


Remember Sunny Days

by Kokichi707



Category: OMORI (Video Game)
Genre: Comatose, Concerning Imagery, Drowning, F/F, F/M, Guilt, M/M, Mari Lives AU, Multi, Other, Reckless Behavior, Suicidal Tendencies, i want them to be BETTER, i'll update this as i go along - Freeform, please be nice i'm nervous about posting this, poly ship, semicanon - Freeform, we aren't killing mari i'm not that cruel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:27:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29058981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kokichi707/pseuds/Kokichi707
Summary: When Mari falls from the top of the stairs, Sunny instinctively tumbles with her, the two of them taking damage together. With a comatose sister and an ever-growing guilty conscience, Sunny cuts himself off from others in hopes that they would be better off without him. It turns out it's the opposite, and everyone works together to get their sunshine back and make sure it never goes away again.
Relationships: Aubrey & Basil & Hero & Kel & Sunny (OMORI), Aubrey & Basil (OMORI), Aubrey/Basil/Kel/Sunny (OMORI), Aubrey/Kel (OMORI), Aubrey/Sunny (OMORI), Basil & Kel (OMORI), Basil & Sunny (OMORI), Hero/Mari (OMORI), Kel & Sunny (OMORI), Sunny Days - Relationship
Comments: 88
Kudos: 569





	1. 1

Sunny couldn’t help but watch in sheer horror as his hands flew on their own, the harsh contact with the soft fabric of Mari’s clothing making him feel sick to his stomach. He especially didn’t care for the way Mari’s eyes opened wide out of shock and fear as she felt her feet lose contact with the ground, her hand flying up to grab something out of reach. He didn’t have time to stand on his feet, stuck to the floor while she fell. No, he had to do something. Without thinking of the consequences, he leapt out, curling around her as best as he could despite his size. Together they tumbled down the stairs, screaming out in pain as they felt the stairs harshly dig into them, the unforgiving surface digging into their skin.

The ungraceful thump of hitting the flooring below was followed with silence. He had tried to keep himself from falling entirely by putting an arm out, but it seemed to have backfired. His wrist cracked beneath him and he yelped in pain, the grinding noise above him as Mari was slammed mercilessly into the ground. Her lack of movement made him forget his own pain, yelling, shaking her and calling for his parents. He could see her faint breathing from her frame, he could hear light whimpers, but the lack of response sent him into a panic.

The ride to the hospital was a sickening blur. Mari was taken quickly away from him, begging for him to be able to stay with her, uncharacteristically yelling out and pleading for her to come back. The hands on him to hold him back from running after her made his skin crawl. Restrained to an uncomfortable chair, he couldn’t help but wait anxiously. He had well forgotten about his own broken wrist, but it didn’t take long for his parents to realize in horror as it bruised quickly. 

The hospital visit continued to mix into an unrecognizable form in his mind, the only thing he vaguely remembered being the way Mari’s hair framed her face as she slept. The doctors had said it was a coma, but there was no way. The way her chest rose and fell rhythmically even still had him convinced she simply was sleeping. He was escorted away from her, his eyes wandering behind him before the door closed to see how small Mari looked among the machinery in the room and the potted plant.

The night without Mari home was excruciatingly lonely. The thought of her always being a couple rooms away had made it easier for him to feel safe, but the lack of presence stained his thoughts with mangled images of what could have been along with what was. Even with his parent’s attempt to clean up the mess, fragments of splintered wood still remained at the stairs base. He picked up a couple in his hand, watching as they loosely fell into the creases of his palm with cold eyes before walking up the stairs and closing his door. The dull walls seemed to taunt him as he closed the door. He slowly pulled himself into bed, taking a moment to look out his window and down at his cast. He and his friends had spent so long working on that treehouse, and he was already unable to join them. He shook his head and crawled into bed, cursing the lack of comfort provided for his wrist. The sleep was dreamless, and he finds himself tossing and turning far more than any average night.

\------

Going to school turned out to be far more problematic than he was prepared for. The disdainful whispers that started as the day began were already proving to be more than he could properly handle; he instead opted for unfocusing his eyes and letting his gaze go through things. He refused to look up around anyone, their stares throwing daggers into his back as he continued to move through the crowd. Finding his way to an empty desk in the room, he sat down, his eyes focusing on the desk. For a moment, he could swear he could see the silhouette of Mari’s head on the pillow, laying so peacefully before a hand waved in front of his face.

“Hey dude! You didn’t look like you heard me earlier!” Kel cheerily said, poking his shoulder into Sunny’s side playfully. His cheery tone felt grating to Sunny, and he attempted to ball both of his hands into fists, forgetting the cast squeezing around his wrist. Kel picks up on the out of place piece, tapping it.

“Whoa, dude! What happened? Did you try to climb into the treehouse without Mari to make sure you made it fine? You’ve gotta be more careful!” Kel said, going through his mess of a bag next to him in a vain attempt to find a sharpie. Sunny’s stoic gaze broke for a moment as he looked up at Kel, an unrecognizable expression finding its way onto his face. Kel takes a couple steps backwards, throwing his hands up.

“Hey man, I get that no one likes getting hurt. It can’t be that bad though, why don’t you tell me?” He tilts his head quizzically, watching as Sunny attempts to say something, opening his mouth, only to shut it quickly, shaking his head. It’s only in that moment that Kel realized Sunny’s frame shaking slightly, the one hand with more free range grasping his opposite arm. Before he could ask anything beyond that, the bell rang over their heads. Ke patted Sunny on the back roughly, accidentally pushing him into the desk. Something in Sunny snapped as he stood up quickly, his bookbag and its contents spilling haphazardly on the floor. He doesn’t pay any mind to them as he wordlessly exits, his feet moving on their own. 

The images of Mari-- poor, innocent Mari-- felt like they wouldn’t leave him alone. The wide eyes continued to stare at him as he started breaking into a full sprint, running directly to the fence at the edge of campus. He pushed through crowds of late kids, attempting to desperately get away from everything. By the time he had bounded to the fence, he had caught the eyes of far too many people. It didn’t stop him from struggling to climb the fence, cursing his other hand for being out of commission. The distant sound of someone familiar yet strange called out to him, yet it only fueled his desires even further. He needed to leave, no matter the cost.

Finally making it to the top of the fence, he turned to see Kel had made his way to the fence, panting and watching with wide eyes. It was to be expected, as Sunny wasn’t necessarily known for being a problem child of any sorts. The moment they met eyes, Sunny paused.

“What’s gotten into you?! This isn’t cool,” he started, putting his hands on the fence. “I don’t know what happened, but if you fall, you might mess up your wrist more.”

Sunny’s eyes panned to the cast, and he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to focus on his breathing. He’d seen Mari do the same thing whenever she got frustrated, and it seemed to work for her. However, the more he tried to breathe in and out, the less he could keep himself composed. With a final swift movement, he threw himself over the fence, curling in on himself to protect his wrist as he jumped. After clumsily getting up, he didn’t stop running. Kel watched as Sunny’s back grew further and further away from him. He was about to follow when a teacher came behind him, clearing their throat loudly. He turned around, looking back for a moment before apologizing and heading back to class and gathering Sunny’s things and putting them into his bag again.

He could just visit after school and see what was up.

\------

Sunny found his home, breathless and dizzy from his running, putting his hand on the door as he caught his breath shakily. He started trying to open the door with his casted hand, quietly whimpering as he attempted to despite the wrist being uncooperative. He finally struggles it open, running inside and to Mari’s room without hesitation. He slammed his fists on the door, hoping she would answer. When no response came, he began to fight with the door in the same fashion, his noises of agony getting louder with every attempt until the door opened.

Mari was nowhere to be seen, the room slightly unkempt as if she had been looking for something before she had left it. She was normally a pretty tidy person, finding herself much happier in clean spaces. It wasn’t until his eyes land on a folder laying on the piano with their sheet music for practice that he found himself backing into the wall of the hallway, stumbling on his footing and pressing himself up against the wall. There was no way that all really happened. He kept trying to deny the idea to himself, whimpering as his hands found his way to his hair and started pulling. With shaky legs, he ran out the front door, not taking care to lock it as his feet pounded the pavement.

He found himself in the park, not fully aware of his surroundings as he stumbled to the secret hangout place. The branches seemed to stab at him as he made his way through, only fueling his agitation further. He ran to the dock carelessly, his foot getting caught on a board as he fell forward into the lake. Quillwort and algae stuck to him as he sunk in shock, closing his mouth in hopes of getting less water inside. He struggled to the surface of the pond, quickly finding his way to the edge and coughing up water that had started to find its way to his lungs. He looked at his hands, and the feeling of Mari’s shirt still stuck to them like a curse. Quietly curling himself up into a ball, the only thing he could allow himself to do was weep, his small frame shaking violently as his soaked clothing clung to him.

\------

Kel walked home from school, groaning a bit at the awkward weight provided by Sunny’s backpack. He didn’t know why it was so heavy, figuring that Sunny must’ve had a collection of bricks hidden in there beneath the binders and folders. Making his way down the street, he could see that Sunny’s front door was wide open. He ran up when he saw Mewo’s head poking out of the doorway curiously. He scooped her up, laughing quietly as she stopped wiggling out of sheer confusion. He closed the door behind him as he walked in.

“Sunny! I brought your bag, so uh… where are you?” Kel asked loudly to the house, met with silence. He walked up the stairs to Sunny’s door, knocking quietly.

“Look, I know it’s kind of rude of me, but uh… I’m coming in.” Kel said, opening the door to his room. Silence greeted him as he put the bookbag on the ground quickly, looking around for any signs of Sunny coming back. His efforts were in vain, and the sinking feeling in his stomach grew when he saw the papers about his broken wrist on the desk, paired with an x-ray. He ran down the stairs and slid open the backdoor, calling Sunny’s name out to no response. His pace quickened as he climbed the ladder, unable to find him. He sat for a moment, looking around quickly as he tried to figure out a place Sunny would’ve gone. He’s not normally comfortable going to places alone, but somewhere he was used to wouldn’t be too far fetched.

_ Their hangout spot! _

Kel practically threw himself out of the tree house, running through the house and closing the door behind him as he left, making a mad dash. He didn’t see Hero’s eyes follow curiously, and didn’t notice the second pair of footsteps start to follow him out of worry. It wasn’t until Hero’s pace had caught up to his own that he realized his brother was with him. A worried yet questioning look was given to Kel.

“Park-Sunny--” Was all he was able to get out before Hero nodded, dashing ahead and disappearing into the foliage surrounding their place. Kel ran through the woods, and dropped his pace at Hero holding his arm out, stopping him from moving forward. Looking over his shoulder, Kel’s heart dropped drastically. A small figure was next to the pond, shaking and whimpering. Hero began walking up carefully, Kel watching from afar, his steps almost paralyzed by the surreal-ness of the situation. After an excruciating moment of tentative movement, Hero crouched down beside Sunny.

“Sunny, what… happened to you?” He asked. The sudden realization of Hero’s presence made him pull himself into a tighter ball, his breathing getting worryingly faster. Hero put a hand on his shoulder. He rubbed comfortingly, not speaking again for a couple minutes. Finally, he started up again.

“You know we’re all here for you, we just want to make sure you’re okay.” Hero started turning Sunny over without his permission, only for Sunny to finally whip around on his own and meet his eyes with wide, scared ones. Hero had always seen the similarities between Mari and her brother, especially their eyes. The expression made him falter, something inside him twisting up. He quickly took a look at the cast and sucked in a breath. He pauses, before opening his arms and wrapping them around Sunny, paying no mind to the wetness of his clothes.

“... She’s gonna be okay.”

Hero had watched the ambulance leave their residence, Mari strapped securely to a gurney, and Sunny’s panic had filled the air beforehand. Hero hadn’t said anything to Kel, since he wasn’t sure how to bring it up to him. The way Sunny called Mari’s name and begged for her to wake up was ingrained in his consciousness, and he closed his eyes. He felt Sunny’s posture change as he started to openly cry a little, the tears finding their way to Hero’s shoulder. Carefully, he began to pat his back, and looked over at Kel with a helpless expression. Kel took a couple steps forward, although still not getting too close. He looked at Sunny, plantlife still all over him. 

“You. You uh… have a little something on you there,” He half-muttered, starting to pick off bits and pieces. Sunny’s shoulders tensed for a moment before relaxing again, realizing it was only Kel. His tears stopped much quicker than Hero anticipated. He stood up on his own, wiping his face with his arm before looking over at Kel. He quickly jumped up, smiling.

“You’re so lucky I actually took decent notes today in math! Too bad I have absolutely no idea what they were talking about,” He laughs a little bit. Sunny didn’t speak up, staring right through him, and Hero simply looked concerned. Putting a hand on Sunny’s shoulder gently, he gave a small smile. 

“Let’s get you home. I’m sure Kel can catch you up on your homework.” He looked at Kel, who made an indifferent motion with his hand, signalling then wasn’t the time to talk about it. Together, the three of them started walking over, Hero and Kel occasionally picking off other little bits of algae that were still sticking to him. The walk was quiet, Kel not even being sure if he should speak up at the time . Hero opened the front door, Seeing Mewo’s face poke from around the doorway to the dining room. He walks over to her, scratching behind her ears gently. Kel shut the door behind him, going to the bathroom to grab a couple towels to dry Sunny off. Sunny’s eyes traveled to the base of the staircase, and the shadow of something was there for a moment before he blinked a couple times, revealing nothing new.

Kel came bounding down the stairs, holding a fluffy towel with a smile before passing it to Hero. Catching it easily, he didn’t hesitate to start blotting the areas that were especially soaked. The lack of emotion made Hero shift awkwardly as he worked, but didn’t deter his hands. When the door opened behind him, the sound of Sunny’s mother coming in made him turn around quickly, doing his best to say some pleasantries. He looked over at Kel, who waved from the couch. 

“You should go up with Sunny, Kel.” Hero said. A smile was still on his face, yet it didn't reach his eyes. Kel simply nodded, motioning to his motionless friend who started to quietly follow behind him. Kel knew he’d have to talk to her too, especially since he wanted to know what happened to Sunny’s wrist. However, schoolwork took priority in his mind. Sunny left the door open slightly in case Mewo wanted to join them as Kel took some of his work out of his bag before putting it on the bed.

“So, we were going over the area of circles! I wrote down the equation right here-” Kel pointed to a part of the page in red ink before continuing, “- and we use a number that never ends! Man, I don’t get it; why did some dude decide we needed a number made of too many numbers?!” He groaned dramatically, leaning backwards. He secretly looked back at Sunny, who didn’t even seem to be paying attention, his eyes simply being focused on his hands. He peered over, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He looks down before walking over to Sunny’s bed and sitting on it.

“What-what happened to you?” He started, pointing his gaze to the ceiling in contemplation. “You’re even more quiet than normal, and I’ve never seen you actively ditch school. There’s gotta be a pretty big reason.” Sunny finally looked at Kel directly, walking a bit closer before silently pointing to the door. Kel stood up, confused.

“Oh, are you gonna show me what happened? That’s cool!” He got up, following the direction Sunny had been pointing to outside his door. Looking back, he pointed downstairs. Kel obediently went ahead, only turning around to the sound of a door closing and the click of a lock. He looked at the door, bewildered before knocking on it helplessly.

“Hey… not cool! At least give me my notes back.” He whines. His math notebook slipped underneath the door, but it wasn’t followed by anything else. He awkwardly stood in place before sighing and looking down at his brother still talking. Putting the most energy he can into it despite his growing worry, he smiled and gave the door a thumbs up.

“I’ll leave you alone for now, but you’re gonna need to catch up at some point! I’ll have my notes ready for you then,” He half-yelled before making his descent down the stairs. He stopped at the base, seeing some fragments of broken wood, curiously picking one of them up. It looked incredibly familiar, although he couldn’t figure out from where. With a shrug, he pocketed it before making his way to Hero.

“I wasn’t the one who knew to check the park, but- oh, speaking of.” Hero glanced over at Kel. He nodded, sighing as he prepared himself to talk about what had happened. He did his best to not leave out any details, looking back up occasionally at Sunny’s door to make sure it hadn’t opened before continuing. As he finished, he looked up at both his mom and Hero.

“What… what happened to his wrist? He wouldn’t tell me earlier, and I’m just-I’m just worried, I guess.” She and Hero exchanged a worried look, neither knowing who should speak up first. Finally, Sunny’s mom breaks the silence.

“Sunny and Mari… they had an accident on the stairs, it seems. Mari fell, and Sunny tried to catch her. And, well…” She trailed off, looking up the stairs with a worried expression.

“You were out getting your haircut when it all happened,” Hero continued, grabbing Kel’s attention. “I heard Sunny start yelling, and before I knew it… there was an ambulance.” He looked down, avoiding his younger brother’s eyes.

“Okay, but… where’s Mari? Aubrey wanted help dyeing her hair.”

“She’s in the hospital. The fall must’ve been pretty bad, since she sustained enough head trauma to go into a coma…” Hero trailed off, his voice becoming weaker. Kel stared at his brother in disbelief, stepping towards him.

“And you just weren’t going to tell me? What gives?!” Kel yelled out, his face getting closer to his brothers. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice she was gone?! Is that why you said that one thing at the park?” Each question was punctuated with angry movements from Kel, Hero taking small steps away as he tried to find the words in his throat. Internally, he knew he’d regret yelling at Hero the way he was, but he couldn’t stop himself; he’d been taught that talking things out was the best way to work out problems, regardless of how happy or distressing the contents would be.

“I-Kel, I didn’t mean to--”

“Save it, I… I have to go let the others know.” Kel walked to the door, looking back at Hero with a tinge of regret before leaving. Hero turned back to Sunny’s mother with an apologetic face, continuing to talk quietly to her about the cast being soaked in the process.

\------

“Really funny, Kel. This is a stupid joke.”

“No, it isn’t a joke! Sunny bolted, locked me out of his room, and Mari’s in a coma.” Kel sighed, running a shaky hand through his hair. Aubrey examined Kel’s face for any sort of tell that he was lying, but couldn’t find anything besides regret.

“Wait… you-you’re really serious?” She stammered, her annoyance falling from her face quickly.

“Dude, no. I know I make stupid jokes and all, but this definitely crosses the line for me.” He paused, looking for the words to say. “I… I haven’t even told Basil yet. I feel bad, but I know he can’t leave the house once it gets too dark. Plus you know how he is with his homework.” 

“When are we all visiting her?” Aubrey asked, quietly handling her stuffed animal a little tighter than before. 

“I don’t think we have any sort of plan like that right now. To be honest, I’m still trying to get this all straight in my head.” He watched Aubrey’s eyes wander in the direction of the hospital before blocking her vision of it, smiling as he did.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine though! She’s supposed to help you dye your hair, isn’t she? She’d never miss out on that!” His cheery tone made Aubrey pause, sniffling a bit before trying to put on a similar happy face with a nod.

“You’re right. She promised, and I’ve been looking forward to what I’d look like with pink hair.”

“I bet you’ll look like a watermelon.” Kel joked, snickering as he looked away. He ignored the soft thump of Mr. Plantegg on his head as he started to laugh at her agitated reaction. He couldn’t push the way Sunny’s eyes stuck to his hands from his memory. Kel retrieved a piece of the wood he had grabbed from the bottom of the staircase, taking Aubrey’s attention.

“Hey, is it just me, or does this look super familiar?” Kel handed it to her, Aubrey's hands carefully examining it. Confusion spread over her features before handing it back.

“I think so, but I don’t remember what it belongs to. Why, where did you find it?” 

“It was at the bottom of Sunny’s staircase, and it just sort of bothered me, soooo I picked it up!” Another thunk of Aubrey’s plushie landed on his side, slightly knocking the wind out of his lungs. She went in for another hit before sighing and letting her arms relax by her side.

“For now, I gotta get back; Daddy said he was bringing a surprise home and he won’t let me see it until my room is clean. I’ll talk to you tomorrow at school, we can let Basil know together.” She walked away, leaving Kel to walk home alone. He watched the sun set as he continued moving forward, wondering how they could possibly break the news to Basil.

\------

“You really have to be more careful with yourself, Sunny. We just got this cast on you, and you’re already getting it wet?” his mom doted, unraveling a cord to the hair dryer and turning it on. Sunny’s despondent behavior hadn’t gone unnoticed, but she couldn’t help but think he was just worried about Mari. They’d become so close, it wasn’t too far off to say he followed his sister like a little duckling. Even though he wasn’t as expressive as his friends, his mom could see the trust he put in Mari. She gently ran a hand through his hair, humming a song from when he was still a toddler. Anything was better than the silence he’d given everyone.

“I know it’s hard without her, but you know she’s always been quick to recover from things. Remember that story Dad always told you about the time at the playground and the monkey bars?” She smiled a little, rotating his arm slightly to push the heat in different directions. He refused to make eye contact as he solemnly nodded. He’d heard the story a few times, the way she broke her wrist from an awkward fall; they especially loved to talk about how she got up like she was fine afterwards, despite the amount of pain she had to be in.

He watched the hair dryer not move after awhile, his mom still reciting the story. He squirmed in place, trying not to disturb her. It wouldn’t accomplish anything, and she seemed like she needed to say it more for her sake than his.

“... oh, and the way she still waved at us with that smile of hers. I just know she’ll wake up with the same smile. Nothing can hold her down for too long.” She continued humming, finally moving the heat away from his arm. He held his wrist close to him, subtly running his fingers over where the element had stayed too long. His mother looked at him with a disheartened chuckle. She crouched down to his height, taking him into her arms. He closed his eyes as he let himself enjoy the more comfortable warmth before she let go of him, opening the bathroom door.

“Don’t forget to feed Mewo, I know she’ll thank you for it,” she chuckled a little, an insistent mewl following after. Sunny watched as Mewo weaved between his legs, her tail wrapping around as she looked up, her meowing becoming more needy. He picked her up, cradling her like a baby as he walked down the stairs to take care of her. He filled her food dish up and put it down, not looking to the window where Hero and Kel were motioning towards his house. After filling her water bowl, he trudged back up the stairs, any contact on his hand clinging to him. He cursed the way he could still feel the soft material even as he touched the cold metal of his doorknob. Staring at the treehouse from his window, Sunny couldn’t help the empty feeling that started growing in his stomach as it clawed at his lungs. Silently, he drew the curtains, letting the room get dark before crawling back into his still messy bed. 

\------

When he opened his eyes, he was surrounded by nothing but pure white. He slowly rose to his feet, feeling the familiar feeling of Mewo at his ankles. She paced in front of him for a while before finally sitting down, looking at him curiously. He kneeled down, petting her. Despite her meowing, he could tell exactly what she had been asking him.

“Waiting for something to happen?”

He continued petting her, nodding. A lightbulb swung above his head, emitting no light and no sound as it moved. There seemed to be no ceiling, and he couldn’t help but wonder where he was. He was more curious as to why he felt so comfortable here, why he’d ever want to leave. He closed his eyes once more, enjoying the nothingness washing over him.  



	2. 2

“I know it’s only been a few days, but now would be a good time to come back.”

Hero held Mari’s hand, running his thumb over it as he tried to let himself talk. He knew that the others would probably be upset if they knew he was coming here without them, but he couldn’t help it. Seeing her chest still rising and falling gave him some sort of hope he wasn’t willing to admit to the others. He sighed as he squeezed her hand a bit tighter. There wasn’t any response like she’d normally give, yet he tried to trick himself into believing he felt a bit of tightness on his own hand as well. He sighed as he closed his eyes, hanging his head over her.

“Sunny hasn’t said a word to any of us. He’s… he’s been much more devoid of emotion. The other day, he apparently waited outside your room to walk to school together. Your mom had to take him away for him to be actually on time.” He paused, biting his lip. He wasn’t sure how much she was hearing, but it felt wrong to keep secrets from her regardless. “You wouldn’t believe it actually, he-he actually left school the other day. Kel went to bring him his bag, and when he wasn’t there, he-he just took off running to the park. I saw him running, so I followed, and… something happened. I don’t know what, but he was drenched. I’ve never seen Sunny look so torn up.” He looked at the heart monitor for any deviations, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

He could almost hear her laughter as he looked at her lips. The same ones that always knew how to catch him so incredibly off guard; he wished for nothing more than for them to tease him as they always had. He gripped her small hand in both of his, shaking lightly as he held on for dear life itself.

“Don’t… don’t keep all of us waiting for so long. Don’t keep  _ me _ waiting. Please.”

The door behind him creaked open, a nurse coming in. With a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, Hero looked behind him, getting up but still holding Mari’s hand in one of his.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have to ask you to leave,” she said timidly. Hero gave one last squeeze to Mari’s hand. He relished in the warmth before gently setting her hand down.

“Sorry, I’ll get out of the way then. And thank you so much for-for doing your best.” He gave the nurse a warm smile, and she looked away quickly, her cheeks tinted pink. He left the room, gently closing the door behind him. He stood in place in front of Mari’s room for a few minutes before continuing down the hall towards the elevator. Once the doors closed and he selected the first floor, he leaned on a wall, and wondered what Mari would’ve done in this situation. His thoughts drifted to Sunny once again, the way he had looked so helpless a few days prior. It didn’t take too long for him to feel the wheels in his head start turning.

He had an idea.

\------

Sunny sat down in the library quietly, finding an empty spot. The silence would be too much for someone like Kel to handle, but he was content where he was. He took a book at random off of one of the assorted shelves as he nestled himself in a corner. He opened the book, flipping to a random page to pretend to read. He felt his stomach growl, but he ignored it; he knew that everyone would be waiting for him at the lunch table. 

In reality, he was far from alone in the library. Someone had been watching him from afar, even so far as to follow Sunny into the library and pick up a book themselves. Basil’s curious eyes watched Sunny as he stared blankly. He’d noticed Sunny drawing into himself more than normal, but every part of Basil was telling him that he shouldn’t get involved. Sunny was never talkative when something bothered him, but he’d naturally drift towards the others when he needed the attention. Something about this felt different.

Basil watched as time ticked by, Sunny never turning a single page in the book. Basil could feel his heart becoming restless as he finally closed his book and walked over to Sunny, sitting near him.

“Hey! I couldn’t help but-but notice you’re here! What a coincidence!” Basil said, attempting to sound surprised. Sunny’s eyes widened a bit as Basil drew closer, looking up at him. He scooted a little bit on the ground, giving Basil some room. Basil quickly took a seat next to him, looking at the cream cast that was on his arm. He fished a marker from his bag, turning back to Sunny.

“I-is it okay if I sign…?” Basil trailed off, watching Sunny’s face for some sort of approval. Sunny looked away as though he didn’t care but still put his arm out in front of his friend. Basil didn’t waste a second before uncapping the sharpie, writing his name and putting a sunflower next to it. He hummed happily as he closed the marker, leaning a little closer to Sunny. 

“I’m surprised no one else has signed it yet. I’m sure Kel is dying to. You two share the same homeroom, don’t you?” He looked over at Sunny, who was examining the signature.

“... We do.” Sunny closed the book he’d left open in front of him, curling into a ball as he looked despondently at the ground. Basil could hear something in his head telling him that he shouldn’t have asked, but he suppressed his worry to continue.

“Is-is it okay if I ask what happened? You’re just-you’re just normally really careful!” Basil shakily asked. He could feel Sunny tense up at the question, watching as his friend shook his head quickly. 

“O-oh. That’s fine! Really, I-I-” Basil started, losing his will to speak as he struggled to continue. For a moment, he thought he saw pity in Sunny’s eyes before he got up, walking away. Basil scrambled to his feet, matching Sunny’s pace and leaning a little further to catch a glimpse of his face.

“W-well! I! I would really-really like if we could do something after school!” Basil practically begged for Sunny’s attention. Sunny slowed for a moment, looking thoughtful before shaking his head again.

“Sorry. Not today.” Sunny picked his pace up as he left the library, leaving Basil to watch his back disappear from view. He could feel himself wanting to chase after Sunny, but his feet wouldn’t move. Something was wrong, and he knew it; there just wasn’t a good way to confront Sunny about it yet. He walked through the door only to collide with someone else, almost falling to the ground. Quickly, he could feel the grip of a hand catching him and pulling him back up.

“Whoa dude, you okay?” Kel asked, steadying Basil. Aubrey’s worried face peered from behind him before darting down the hallway. She mumbled something to Kel before fast-walking down the hallway.

“O-oh! Yeah, I’m-I’m fine! Everything is great!” Basil answered, though his trembling suggested otherwise. He gently shook off Kel’s hand after making sure he wouldn’t fall over, giving a tentative pause before speaking his mind. “You-you never come to the library, is everything okay?”

“Well, I’ve been trying to get a hold of Sunny, but he won’t talk to me,” he groaned as his shoulders slumped, “and I figured he might have gone here. You haven’t seen him, have you?”

“N-now that you mention it, he was in the library with me for a bit. He just left a bit ago, and went that way.” He pointed in the direction Aubrey had gone, seeing her stop someone in the hallway somewhere in the distance. Kel’s eyes lit up as he patted Basil’s shoulder, running down the hallway. Basil followed, although slowing his pace so as to not get in trouble.

“Wait, did you let Basil sign your cast?! Not fair, I wanted to sign it first!” Kel whined dramatically, leaning on the figure Basil assumed was Sunny. Aubrey didn’t say anything, instead grabbing Sunny’s cast gently and examining it. Basil caught up, keeping a slight amount of distance in an attempt to not overwhelm his friend.

“I wish I had a marker; I think you need a Mister Plantegg on here,” Aubrey piped up, looking over at Basil. He produced a marker, and she quickly snatched it from him and got to work. Kel sighed once more, wrapping his arms around Sunny.

“Awww, what?! Even Aubrey signed it before me!” He could see Sunny shifting his weight underneath Kel’s, but there wasn’t much he could do to get out of his grasp. Aubrey looked at her handiwork with a pleased smile before passing Kel the marker. He scrawled his name messily in large letters with a heart next to it before passing the marker back to Basil. He fumbled with it momentarily before finally successfully catching it and putting it back in his bag, looking back up at his friends.

“Sunny, you should come back with us to lunch! I’ll share my Caprisun with you if you do!” Aubrey cheered, getting close to his face. He recoiled backwards, breaking from Kel’s grasp. He held himself closer, a wild look in his eyes as he looked at the three of him. He quietly shook his head as he took a few steps away. Kel followed his movements, worry clouding his better judgement.

“Are… are you going to be okay? I know you’re worried about Mari, but-”

“Just stop.”

Everyone fell to silence as Sunny clawed at his arms as best he could, putting more and more distance between them. Basil put a hand on him, only for Sunny to quickly brush it off. He took off down the hall, leaving the three of them concerned.

“What-what happened to Mari?” Basil spoke up. Kel and Aubrey exchanged a look before Aubrey spoke up for the two of them.

“It may not be a good idea to talk about it here. Maybe we should go somewhere else if we’re going to talk about this. Does the park after school sound good to you two?” Kel and Basil nodded, and the bell rang overhead. ‘Park,’ Aubrey mouthed before going to the staircase at the end of the hall and ascending. Kel and Basil looked at each other, walking with one another down the hall.

“Is-Is Sunny… is he going to be alright on his own for now?” Basil asked Kel. The silence following his question didn’t reassure him one bit.

\------

Hero dropped his bag at home, checking in with his parents before heading back over to Sunny’s home. It was pretty well past the time they were let out of school, so he walked over and knocked on the door. Sunny’s mom opened the door, ushering him in before quietly closing the door.

“Sorry to come in unannounced, I hope you don’t mind too much.” Hero took his shoes off and put them on the shoe rack. She smiled at the gesture before turning back to the kitchen.

“You’re always welcome here, Hero. Sunny should be up in his room right now. I’m sure he’d love the company right now.” A timer went off, and she let out a little gasp as she jogged over to it, turning it off. Hero looked up the stairs, taking a breath before climbing up them. From outside, it didn’t appear as though the light was on in Sunny’s room. He walked up to the door before knocking on it quietly. He could hear small feet shuffle towards him, but the door didn’t open.

“Hey, Sunny. It’s Hero. I was just wondering if we could talk.” 

The sound of something sliding against the door ended with a soft thump, leaving Hero to assume Sunny was sitting on the other side of the door. He mirrored the action, grunting a little as he fully extended his legs. He was quiet for a few moments, finding words to say.

“Did you talk to the others at school today? I know Kel was wishing on that lucky rock of his that you’d let him sign your cast.” Hero chuckled, remembering the way he saw his little brother staring down the pebble with an intense gleam in his eyes. The lack of response was filed with light movement from Sunny on the other side of the door. Hero closed his eyes, leaning his head back on the cool surface.

“I know you obviously don’t want to talk to me, but… I brought over a marker to sign it too, if you’ll let me.” Hero smiled as he offered, expecting no response. To his surprise, the click of a doorknob above his head signalled the opening of a door, Hero’s head moving with it. He looked behind him to see Sunny’s arm out of the door, held still. He held back a laugh as he wrote his name on the cast, attempting to draw a sandwich next to his name after seeing everyone else doodling something next to their name. When he finally let go of Sunny’s arm, the casted wrist remained out for a few minutes, the tips of his fingers moving slightly as if touching something. He finally pulled it back, closing the door gently.

“I saw you let the others sign it today. I’m sure they’re all happy they could do something like that for you,” he sighed. Hero knew Mari would’ve been first to sign it if things hadn’t gone as horrible as they did, but shook the thought out of his head. He walked towards the staircase, turning back to call out to Sunny.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

The sound of Hero’s footsteps receding from Sunny’s doorway made him feel a little more at ease as he examined Hero’s neat signature. The drawing next to his name was… rushed, to say the least, but it fit him somehow. He ran his fingers over the names on his cast, trying to ground his thoughts and ignore the ever growing presence of something that always seemed to find its way to the corners of his vision. It seemed to watch him, stalking his every movement. He crawled under the blankets and covered his face, closing his eyes as he breathed slowly. Whatever had been haunting him didn’t follow as he hid in his bed. As he slowly lost consciousness, he couldn’t help but wonder what his friends were doing without him.

\------

“S-so, you’re saying that-that Mari is-” Basil panicked, holding onto Kel’s arm a little too tight for comfort.

“Don’t act like she’s gone! She’ll be fine, you know how she is,” Aubrey said, giving Basil a stern look before realizing she raised her voice at him, quietly apologizing. Kel patted Basil’s back, not wanting to openly admit the way his friend was clinging to him made his heart ache.

“She shouldn’t have snapped at you, but Aubrey is right; Mari is going to recover. She wouldn’t want us all to worry about her too much. That doesn’t stop whatever Sunny is going through though,” Kel said. 

“Well, I-I don’t even know where to start with this,” Basil mumbled.

“You’re not the only one. He’s never been like this. It’s like he’s not even Sunny anymore,” Kel replied, getting a cold look from Aubrey before shaking his head. “You know what I mean, though.”

“Maybe… maybe one of us should check up on him after school everyday? It’s obvious he doesn’t want to do things with us there, so why not one on one?” Aubrey offered, “That way he’d know we’re still there for him.”

“That’s a great idea! I call dibs on tomorrow!” Kel cheered, throwing his arms into the air. Basil chuckled a little as his hands hung awkwardly in the air, trying to find something else to do.

“I’ll go the day after you!” Aubrey clapped her hands together excitedly. The two looked at Basil expectantly, who fiddled with the hem of his shirt nervously.

“I-I’ll go the day after Aubrey then!” He flashed a little determined grin, causing the two to look away from him. He tilted his head, thinking he did something wrong before they laughed, wrapping their arms around him with a smile.

“It’s a plan!” Kel announced.

“It’s our plan,” Aubrey chimed in.

“Our… our plan,” Basil echoed, losing any hesitation as he bathed in the positive atmosphere.

They left the playground after lounging around after their talk, all excited to start their plan the next day.

\------

No one could seem to find Sunny the next day at school, but that didn’t stop the quiet rumors to start making their way around. From one mouth to another, disdainful tones had started being thrown in his direction. Aubrey was on her way to class when she heard a couple kids talking about him.

“... Hey, isn’t she one of the ones who’s close to the kid that killed his sister?” 

“You should ask her, I’m sure she’s dying to talk about it.”

Turning around, she met their faces. She’d met the girl with the blue sweater before during their class’s first day, though the blond kid behind her wasn’t familiar.

“So, what do you have to say about it?” The guy asked, leaning on the girl who shoved him off quickly.

“Say about… what?”

“You’re friends with the kid that killed his sister. Sunshine, or whatever his name is,” the girl said. While the words were harsh, a tone of genuine interest hid behind every word. Aubrey balled her fist as she stomped her foot down.

“Sunny would never! And she isn’t dead, you know! Who even told you that?” 

“The Maverick here hears all sorts of stuff,” the girl lazily pointed to the guy still on the ground groaning. He quickly got up, shooting Aubrey a finger gun before blowing on his index finger.

“News gets around pretty fast. Whether she’s alive or not, he totally tried to murder her, there’s no getting around that,” the Maverick stated. Before he could continue, he felt a fist collide with his face. He looked in disbelief at Aubrey, her face red as she took a step back.

“Don’t you dare talk about my friend like that! That’s not cool!” She turned around, stopping for a second to throw an insult over her shoulder. “... jerk.”

The two watched as Aubrey made her way into the classroom. The girl took off her glasses and wiped them on her sweater before putting them back on with a look of newfound interest as she followed her in. Aubrey started unpacking her bag as the girl took the seat next to her.

“So…. if that’s not the case, do you actually know what happened?” She asked. Aubrey looked like she was ready to yell at her, but stopped, a worried expression evident.

“Why do you care so much?” Aubrey asked. “I don’t even remember your name.”

“It’s Kim, and because I just want to know,” Kim answered back, grinning at Aubrey. She looked at Kim from behind her folders, trying to access whatever endgame she was planning. She slowly relaxed as she sat at her desk, laying her face flat on the desk’s surface.

“We’re really worried about him, he’s just… not been himself.” Aubrey admitted. Kim watched her curiously as Aubrey made more frustrated noises. She reached out with a folder from her bag, gently patting her from afar as aubrey sniffled a bit.

“There there…?” She questioned, pulling back the folder when Aubrey lifted her head, a red mark on her forehead where most of the pressure went.

“You don’t really think he’d do something like that, do you?” Aubrey asked.

“Hm? Oh, no. He’s so timid, there’s absolutely no way he has it in him.” Kim dismissed the idea quickly, taking a piece of taffy from her bag and popping it back in her mouth before looking back at Aubrey. “I just wanted to ask you directly.”

Their teacher walked in as they continued to talk, ignoring the pleas to settle down for the lesson. Aubrey continued to talk to her after class, and even ended up bringing her to the lunch table. Kel raised an eyebrow, but didn’t object to the new presence. He got up and shook her hand with his, giving a giant smile and asking Kim if she had a dog. The lunch period went by quickly, the two girls finally parting for different classes. While she wasn’t completely sure how to feel about Kim, Aubrey couldn’t help but feel a little hopeful that she’d get to be better friends with her.

\------

Kel practically dashed out of the school as the final bell rang, moving as fast as he could to his neighborhood to wait for Sunny. He laughed as he watched squirrels scamper throughout the street, chatting away to one another as he recklessly bounded. He smashed acorns purposefully as he ran, enjoying every crunch beneath his feet on his way to Sunny’s house. He got up to the front door step and sat down promptly, waiting for Sunny to come by. He let himself lean into the warmth of the sun, wishing it would never go away.

Time passed, and Sunny never showed up. The longer he waited, the more restless he became. He watched the clouds for a while to distract him, but was incredibly confused when Hero’s face popped into his view, making him jump up.

“AAAAH!!” 

“Wh-Calm down! It’s just me! What are you doing here?” Hero asked, laughing at the expression Kel was making. He looked at the door to Sunny’s home and pointed at it.

“I was waiting for Sunny to get home, but he still hasn’t shown up yet.”

Hero looked contemplative, putting a hand to his chin as he thought hard about it. “Actually, come to think of it… did you see Sunny leave for school this morning?” He asked. Kel mimicked his brother, sticking his tongue out a bit as he thought.

“Actually? No, I don’t think so. I figured he was just late waking up today.” He got up, picking up on what Hero might be hinting to. He knocked on the door, and no response came, although Hero swore he could hear the same feet from the day before shuffling to the door.

“Hey, Sunny! It’s me, Kel! I didn’t see you at school today!” Kel yelled. No response came from the door, making Kel look a little concerned at Hero. Hero looked away.

“Don’t be mad at me for this one, since I found this out only a couple hours ago, but… I heard Sunny’s switching to homeschooling.”

The silence was palpable as Kel’s jaw dropped. Hero knocked on the door again, trying to sound a bit more composed than he felt.

“We just wanted to check in on you. No pressure,” he said. Sunny put his hands on the door to open it, only to recoil at the feeling of Mari’s shirt sticking to him again. His breathing quickened as he backed away from the door. He couldn’t open the door, otherwise the smell of Mari’s perfume would suffocate him. He retreated to the staircase, ignoring the overwhelming presence hunting him down as though he were prey. After Kel and Hero didn’t get a response, they eventually left, chatting with each other about the plan the others had come up with without Hero, and what they’d have to do to get Sunny out of the house.

Sunny locked himself in the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror, seeing a pair of hands finding their way to his shoulders. His vision blurred in and out as something struggled to come into focus behind him. He swung his arm around in an attempt to hit it, only to go through nothing. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before checking the mirror to find a tired looking image staring back at him. He stepped back from the counter and slowly opened the door once more. He thought about going back towards the front door, but couldn’t bring himself to. Instead, he opened the door to his room, paying no mind to the endlessly growing sea of emotional decay that spilled forth as he walked in. He shut the door, locking it tight before letting himself lay on the carpet, staring at his ceiling.

Something circled his vision once more, moving fluidly around the room. He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to beckon any more attention from the entity than he had already seemed to garner. After staying in that position for what felt like hours, he climbed back in his bed, closing his eyes. He felt his chest tighten up, as the last thing in his view was his friend’s names haunting him before he fell asleep once again.


	3. 3

“And he totally ignored us!” Kel whined in between bites. 

“I know that you’re torn up about it, but could you try to chew with your mouth closed?” Marla Thompson asked, gently wiping her face with a napkin. “I’m sure he’ll come back around, considering he let you guys sign his cast.”

“I’m honestly surprised he did,” Hero admitted as he poked his head in from the kitchen, “considering how he’s drawing back from everyone. If I’m not mistaken, didn’t you say you had to chase him down a hall to even get him to agree to that?”

“Well, yeah. He didn’t seem upset that we did it though!” Kel said, refusing to let the situation get him down.

“Well, just keep checking on him. Your father and I are going over to check on Charlotte later, so keep Sally company while we do,” their mom said, getting up and pushing in her chair. Kel looked at his little sister who was playing with some cheerios in her high chair, occasionally looking up and smiling. Kel returned the smile and made silly faces at her, getting her to squeal in delight.

“Oh. Before I forget to ask, will you be coming with me and Basil tomorrow?” Hero asked, pulling out a chair at the table to sit down across from Kel.

“You guys are going somewhere?”

“Oh, I thought you knew. Basil wanted to visit Mari, but his grandmother wouldn’t allow him to go alone. It’s a pretty big building.”

“Oh, sure then! It isn’t my day to check on Sunny, so I won’t have much else to do once I pretend to answer all my homework,” Kel cheered, letting himself lean back in the chair, eyeing his empty plate with content.

“You mean after you properly finish your homework?” Hero rose an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah. That.” Kel laughed nervously. He didn’t want to admit that he was planning to climb over the backyard fence to throw rocks at Sunny’s window to get his attention, especially since he didn’t think to ask for help from the others with it.

\------

Crickets chirped as Kel threw himself over the fence, grunting as he struggled to make it over without tearing his clothes. He fell on his hands, but quickly scrambled back up to his feet, his eyes trained on Sunny’s window. The curtains obscured his view into the room, but he figured the noise would be enough to get Sunny’s attention. He scrounged around the backyard, finding decent sized rocks and putting them into a pile. Aubrey came up behind him, picking up a couple of the rocks.

“What… what are you doing?” She asked. He turned quickly with a scream rising to his lips before he saw her curious face inspecting his work.

“Jesus, Aubrey! First Hero, now you-” He started before stopping himself, shaking his head. “I figured I’d still try to make contact with him. If I throw enough rocks and I’m loud enough, maybe he’ll open his window!” He watched Aubrey’s face fall flat as he explained.

“That’s a stupid idea,” she said, turning around and examining the ground closely. She quickly picked up some pebbles before placing them on his pile despite her words. He laughed as he saw her face start to flush lightly, but chose not to comment on it. After a while, they’d created a decent sized pile.

“That should do it!” Kel smiled, holding out his hand for a high five from Aubrey. She looked away as she slowly rose her hand to his, tapping it lightly. Kel picked up a few of the rocks before hurling them up to the glass.

“HEY, SUNNY! Open your window!” Kel yelled carelessly before Aubrey smacked him on the head. The window didn’t open from the initial noise, so Kel went back to picking up more assorted rocks as Aubrey followed his lead. They pelted the window repeatedly until the curtains shuffled around lightly. For a moment, Aubrey thought she saw Sunny’s curious eye peeking from between the pieces of fabric. She held Kel’s arm as she bounced around.

“Oh my god, I think I saw him! Keep going, keep going!” She egged him on. He quickly picked up more rocks and threw them at Sunny’s room, yelling his name again with more intensity, stomping around. Slowly, Sunny’s face peeked more and more from behind the curtains, watching his friends dance around and wave their arms tirelessly. He put a hand on his window as he watched them curiously, watching as Kel’s eyes lit up. He half-waved a little before he felt a chill run down his spine as he looked beyond them. Something was lingering around them, looming over their presence. He shook as he held onto the curtain, the feeling of the fabric starting to become too much for him. He caught a whiff of Mari’s perfume as he gripped tighter to the curtain before pushing what he had balled in his fist away from him, falling to the ground with a thump.

He watched the ceiling fan in his room spin tirelessly, as he grasped at straws for some sort of relief. He refused to move from the ground; he refused to even bother looking out the window again, haunted by the malicious form that had been appearing in his mind far more often as time moved forward. His sudden disappearance didn’t stop the two from pelting his window with rocks, eventually cracking the window. Aubrey’s excitement finally faded after Sunny’s face didn’t reappear and she held onto one of the rocks in her hand.

“I don’t know if we should continue. I haven’t even gone up to talk to him directly yet, maybe I should do that first.” Kel paused contemplatively before looking back at the house before giving Aubrey a thumbs up.

“That works out anyways! Mom told me and Hero to look after Sally.” He made a run over to the fence and jumped, making a light groan on impact as he struggled to get himself back over. Aubrey ran up beneath him, pushing up against his weight until he disappeared over the border, making a small ‘ow’ before yelling back over the fence. “Let me know how it goes!”

Aubrey laughed under her breath as she went inside the house, finally climbing up the stairs to a notepad she had left in front of his room, ready for use. She knocked on the bedroom door quickly, hearing something behind the door shift around.

“Hey Sunny! I’m really happy Kel and I could see you today!” She started, giggling as she remembered every little detail of Sunny’s confused face. “I know that you’re not always super keen on talking, so I had an idea!” She took the notepad in her hands and rummaged through the small drawer out in the hall for a pencil. She quickly drew a picture of herself smiling in the top left of the corner before pushing it under the door, the paper’s movement stopping as it hit something. It slowly receded beyond her view from the door as Sunny picked it up, examining it.

“Draw with me! It’ll be fun, I promise!”

Sunny got up from the floor and walked over to his own desk, opting to use a black pen. He drew himself next to her face, a neutral expression on his features. He looked at it for a moment, wondering if there was something he could add to make the page feel a bit more full. 

When Aubrey received the page back, she quickly grabbed at it, looking at his art of himself and Mewo in the top right corner. She giggled as she eyed the cat sitting in front of his parent’s bedroom, grooming herself.

“Mewo’s out here right now actually,” Aubrey stated, making some noise to gain Mewo’s attention. She put a cat pawprint on the paper before sliding it back under. She waited for a moment for the paper to be picked up.

“What have you been doing in there, anyways? I haven’t seen you leave your room.” After waiting for a minute, the paper hit her hand and she saw a picture of Sunny laying on the ground. It looked a little more hastily drawn than his first picture, but she figured he was just trying to respond quicker. “All that laying around won’t do you too much good, you know!” She pauses, drawing a dinky picture of Basil before sliding it back, sighing. 

“Now that I think about it, he’s started doing the same thing, although he comes out if I ask him a lot. Sometimes he’ll leave his house just to sit outside yours, actually. I don’t get why he does it, but he looks like he misses you a lot. We all do.”

The silence was deafening as Sunny contemplated what to draw in return. He felt a part of himself begging with the other to just open his door and sit next to Aubrey, but couldn’t find the willpower to move from his spot. Looking up at the curtain, he could see the same figure that hounded him, stationary as it stared him down. Choked breaths left his mouth as he drew exactly what he saw. He couldn’t think to calm down as he smashed the paper through the slit. Aubrey examined it curiously, unable to make heads or tails of the drawing. She responded with a question mark before moving it back under the door. Moments later, the paper was returned with circles around the unidentifiable figure. She tried to do the same thing, but the paper crinkled instead of sliding through. She stopped herself from trying to force it through, giving up and folding the drawn conversation up. She put it in her pocket before getting up.

“Before I go… I know you have lots of stuffed animals in there, but I thought maybe Mr. Plantegg could stay with you for awhile.” She put her plushie gingerly in front of the door before taking a couple steps back. She wished Sunny would at least open the door to pick it up in front of her, but figured it would be pushing her luck to stick around and find out.

“... Come back soon.”

\------

The last thing Mari could remember was the feeling of something holding onto her.

She felt herself floating, her eyes opening to reveal nothing but darkness around her. As she blinked, she felt her feet touch the ground. It was cold on her toes. She looked around, turning endlessly in hopes of something new. The countless times she turned around as she heard familiar voices echo around her made her dizzy. She finally gave in to sitting on the ground, curling herself up in a fashion similar to how she did as a kid; before Sunny was along. She stayed put in the same position, trying to ignore the lingering warmth that kept grabbing at her arms desperately.

When she opened her eyes, there was a wooden door in front of her. She started to walk towards it, putting her hand on the handle before hesitating. Looking around, she realized there were more doors than before. The overwhelming confusion made her frustrated as she pulled at her hair. She tried to force the door open in front of her with no luck. She ran to other doors, frantically twisting the knobs with no results. As she was about to give up, another voice came from somewhere above her.

“...Come home.”

Mari closed her eyes and breathed in slowly before looking back, seeing only one door remain. She approached it cautiously, hearing muffled noises come from behind it. She wasn’t sure why it made her heart twist, but she couldn’t resist swinging it open.

She wasn’t expecting to see Sunny’s back as he shook and shivered, water dripping off his figure. She gasped quietly as she ran to wrap her arms around him. Her foot seemed to fall through something, and she screamed as he went out of view. 

The last thing she saw was something fly towards her, trying to grab her, only to shoot by her.

\------

Hero sat by Mari once again, holding her hand and watching as Kel and Basil watched her chest rise and fall. The steady noise from the heartbeat monitor made Basil move around anxiously while Kel eventually started mimicking the noise subconsciously.

“It’s no wonder Sunny couldn’t bring himself to come over here. It’s great that she’s alive, but this feels like a lot, even as an outsider to the situation,” Basil admitted to the room. Hero nodded as he looked at Mari’s pale face, finding himself picturing her eyes fluttering open. He blinked the daydream away as he lifted his head to meet Basil’s gaze.

“That may be true, but you know Mari’s probably lonely. They say that comatose patients can sometimes hear the outside world while they’re stuck in this state. Wouldn’t you want her to know that we’re waiting for her outside?”

“Yeah, it’s gotta suck being in one place for so long.” Kel swung his legs from the chair next to Hero’s, looking on with a softened expression as he thought to himself.

“You come here everyday, don’t you, Hero?” Basil asked.

“Of course I do. There’s no way I can leave her all alone like this. I figured that when she wakes up, she’d… she’d want to see someone familiar, at least.”

“And you also want to kiss her, don’t you?” Kel chided, elbowing Hero with a toothy grin. He gave Kel a glare as his face started to flush. Before he could retort, a soft knock sounded from the door, Aubrey’s head poking in.

“Oh, hey! Wasn’t it your turn to see Sunny?” Kel asked.

“Of course, and I already went over. I even talked with him… kinda.” Aubrey put her hand in her pocket, feeling another piece of notebook paper in her hand with her thumb. Kel came running up to her, grabbing her arms as he bounced around excitedly.

“He actually said stuff to you?! Why didn’t you tell us?!” He yelled. Aubrey turned away from his excited face as she pulled her arms away, hiding the flush on her cheeks.

“I didn’t get to talk to you at school today-- don’t blame me for that!” Aubrey retorted, ignoring the way Kel tried to grab onto her arms again in excitement. Basil moved a little closer to Aubrey, hesitantly mimicking Kel’s movement to her arm. She looked at him curiously, not pulling her arm away. He gave her a nervous smile as he released her arm, only for her to pull it back to her, wrap around her arm, and continue on like nothing happened.

“Oh, but… I think I forgot to share this thing he drew, since I don’t-”

The door knocked once more, a nurse peeking in apologetically. Hero got up, squeezing Mari’s hand one last time and asking her to come home. It had become a habit for him, as silly as it would seem to someone on the outside. Aubrey followed Hero’s movement, keeping Basil in tow. Kel quickly moved to reach with the group, leaving one of the pebbles from relentlessly throwing at Sunny’s window in the grip of Mari’s hand. He held onto Basil’s hand, grinning as the other boy squeezed onto it in return of the sudden contact.

Somewhere beyond the hospital room, the rock seemed to pass into somewhere dark.

Mari opened her eyes as she gasped in new air in her lungs, surrounded by the same darkness from before. There were more doors than before, but that wasn’t the only thing of note. She opened her palm and held a small rock to her face. Something about it’s familiar warmth made her smile. She stood up from the ground, confidently approaching another door.

\------   
  


Basil knocked on the door to Sunny’s house, greeting his mother warmly as he stepped inside, holding his photo album close to his chest. He wished he had asked Aubrey about what she was saying before they all split up, but he couldn’t manage to get the words out of his mouth. He also hadn’t seen her at school, apparently busy with some sort of project according to Kel.

As he entered the hallway to the stairs, anxiety climbed up his back and perched on his shoulders. He could almost feel the lack of life in the house as he tiptoed up the staircase, finally standing in front of Sunny’s room. Mr. Plantegg sat in front of his door, seemingly untouched. He set down his book to hold the plushie as he stood facing the door.

“A-are you awake in there?” Basil asked timidly, clutching the plushie to his chest tightly. The lack of answer worried him until he heard a light knocking from the otherside of the wood. He felt his shoulders fall as he let out a sigh of relief, nervously chuckling.

“That’s-that’s a good enough answer for me!” He stood, waiting for himself to think of something else to say, realizing only then that he didn’t think through anything he would talk about at all. He bit his lip nervously as he fidgeted.

“... You came.” A muffled voice came through the door, slightly raspy from the lack of usage. Basil put his hand on the door as he pressed his face closer, tears welling in his eyes. 

“O-of course I did, there’s-there’s no way I wouldn’t!” Basil silently pleaded that Sunny would continue talking to him, but no voice responded back to him. He didn’t move away from the door as he pressed his head against the cool wood. He paused as a question finally surfaced in his mind. He took a shaky breath before asking.

“What… what happened that day?”

He heard Sunny’s feet shuffle away, and the sound of his desk drawer open. Basil stood dangerously still with baited breath as the telltale sound of pen to paper slipped from beneath the door. He couldn’t see Sunny, but he could hear his breathing start to quicken, seeming to choke as he continued whatever action from behind the door. Finally, a slip of paper slid from beneath the door, Basil watching it as it stopped at the tip of his shoes. He picked it up, flipping it over to see what Sunny had drawn.

A figure Basil assumed was Sunny, based on the hair, stood at the top of the stairs, a monster of some sorts not too far below him on the staircase. A violent scribble next to what looked to be a thin oval was at the bottom of the staircase. Looking at the monster’s face, he felt a wave of anguish in the figure.

“W-what does this…?” Basil started to ask, but forced himself to stop. He could hear Sunny starting to choke on sobs behind the door. A few pale fingertips had found their way to the bottom of the door, gripping the wood tightly. Basil instinctively moved towards them and put his hand on them, cursing how he could feel the sweat on his own palms from worrying so much. Sunny hiccuped and gently hit the door with his head, attempting to stop the noise from coming out.

“Sunny? I-do you need me to get you out of there?” Basil’s voice raised as the knocking seemed to continue, soft groans following. Sunny’s fingers disappeared underneath once more, but Basil didn’t move his hands from the spot they once were. He felt a weight in his stomach as he listened for more signs of distress, but none came. After some time, he could hear the sound of light snoring from somewhere further in the room. Basil wondered to himself as to how much sleep Sunny had been getting, but knew asking would be a fruitless effort. All he knew was that the day he wouldn’t be there for Sunny would be the day he would burn the photo album. He promised to himself that he would be there for every step of Sunny’s recovery.

He didn’t realize he had left without the photo album and instead with Aubrey’s plush until he was already home, still holding it close to his chest. His eyes widened as he turned to go back out. His hand retracted from the doorknob as he forced himself to turn and go back to his room. If Sunny came out of his room, he might even feel a little better looking at all the photos before. He smiled a little at the thought of how Sunny’s eyes would peek over his shoulder as he would turn the pages, pointing out little details of his favorite photos. 

He walked to his room, a hope in his heart that hadn’t been there before. Surely, Sunny would be happy with all of their memories at arm’s reach.

\------

Sunny slowly pushed the door open as he lazily moved forward from his room. He looked at the grandfather clock in the hall, seeing it was well beyond two in the morning. He shuffled to the bathroom, feeling himself tense at the cold of the tile on his feet. He recoiled back as he looked in the mirror, an unwelcoming presence staring back at him. His eyes shot to the ground as he made his way over to use the bathroom. He finished up and left the room silently, squeezing the doorknob for a few moments longer as if to trap his own reflection.

He looked down the stairs as his stomach rumbled. His mom had been leaving him food in front of his door in hopes that he would eventually eat it, but to no avail. The price of his actions had crept up on him, despite his attempts to deter it by constantly sleeping.

Looking down, he could see Mari’s face staring back at him from the ground in a heap, expectedly watching him. He shook his head as he backed up and hit the wall in his panic. The area around him felt as though it had gotten harder to see as he could hear their argument from before the ordeal. He crouched to the ground as he choked on the air around him, covering his ears and closing his eyes. He needed the noise to stop at any cost. He whipped around, throwing his casted arm at the wall to invite some sort of pain. He yelped out as he held it tightly after the impact, focusing on the way it throbbed rather than the noise trying to permeate through his escape. He slowly breathed in and out, feeling his heart slow in his chest as he moved from the spot, standing tall. He knocked on his mother’s door, quietly opening it to see her fast asleep. His hand went to her arm and shook her awake gently.

“Wha… oh, what’s up, Sunny? Did you have a nightmare?” She asked gently as she slowly sat up in bed. He pointed to the cast where a break had formed. Her eyes shot open as she turned on the light and inspected it worriedly.

“I-I’m not sure how you managed that, but… we’re going to need to get you a new one, honey.” She looked at the signatures of his friends for a moment, knowing he would miss the reminder of them being so close to him at all times. She gently took his free hand with hers as she opened the door and led the way down to the car. He silently got in as she opened the door for him. She couldn’t help but notice his clothes were starting to look larger on his frame, but shook the assumption off. They were always pretty baggy pajamas, after all.

As they walked into the hospital, she rushed over to talk to the receptionist as Sunny stood in the middle of the white tiling, viewing one of the paintings on a wall over a portion of the waiting room. The white lilies made his heart calm. For a moment, he could even see Mari sitting among them with her picnic basket, beckoning him to come sit with her. He moved closer to it and put a hand on it, enjoying the texture of the picture. It wasn’t long before he was escorted away, viewing Mari’s sad face as he was pulled away. He closed his eyes, still haunted by the loneliness he could feel from the hallucination.


	4. 4

Aubrey hadn’t been keeping track of time anymore while she tried to figure out the meaning behind Sunny’s drawing. She often looked it over in her free time, scribbling it out on various pieces of paper in an effort to grasp onto it. Her homework had been plagued with the symbol along with any other sticky note or surface she could come across.

She didn’t get it; why did he sound so scared after giving it to her? She looked back at the original drawing, looking at how desperate the rings circling the image in question were in nature. She groaned as she crumpled up the piece of paper she’d redrawn the picture on and stuffed it in her bag.

“Whoa, you good? I’ve never seen you not leave for lunch,” Kim asked, sidling up next to Aubrey with a confused look.

“It’s just the picture Sunny made a couple months ago,” she answered back, pushing it towards Kim. Kim picked up the picture, scanning it over. She put it down on Aubrey’s desk as she shrugged.

“I mean… it looks sort of sad, but what do I know?” 

“It looks… sad?” Aubrey picked the paper up again curiously. The longer she looked at it, the more she could see where the comment came from; the expression- if she could call it that- looked almost panicked. She looked at her replicas next to the original, not feeling the same emotion behind it as she compared them.

“Hey, I think you’re right!” Aubrey cheered, whipping back to Kim with visible excitement. Kim put a hand on Aubrey’s hair and rustled it, suppressing a playful smile. The door to the hallway creaked open as a familiar face poked into the room. Aubrey peeked over Kim to see Basil’s face heavily lost in thought.

“Basil? Weren’t you supposed to be in the art classroom today?”

“O-oh, well, yes, but--Aubrey, I-I wanted to talk to you. About… about Sunny.” He held a few sheets of paper in his arms, crinkled as though they were constantly being used. Aubrey’s happiness vanished at the mention as she got up from her seat, taking her own paper in her hands.

“That works out anyways, considering I have something too. Actually, is Kel with you?”

“He’s out in the hallway playing that pet rock game with someone I don’t know,” Basil looked out the window, seeing Kel’s head bouncing around excitedly, accompanied with excited chatter.

“Perfect. If I’m correct, Sunny might have given him something too.” Aubrey took Basil’s hand without a second thought, ignoring the way he stuttered bashfully behind her as she moved forward. She gave Kim a small friendly wave before opening the door. 

“Why do you always use rock, dude? It’s super easy to beat you,” a kid laughed at Kel. He didn’t seem upset by it, instead looking at his rock excitedly.

“I don’t need to win to have a good time! You seem pretty happy after winning, don’tcha?” 

“I agree with him, Kel. If you’re going to play that game, you can at least try to win,” Aubrey said behind him, looking at his slightly beat up device. Kel turned around, gasping.

“Hey, don’t be mean! I don’t see you even trying to play-” Kel was cut short as Aubrey gave the paper she was holding to Basil and took Kel’s free hand, walking down the hallway quickly. He glanced between her and her hand before smiling warmly as she opened the door to a closet, walking in with the two in tow.

“Kel, close the door. I don’t think you want someone walking in on our conversation,” Aubrey commanded. He followed her order quickly, leaning back on it for extra security. 

“So, what… what did you want to talk about?” Basil asked, doing his best to not look at the paper she’d given him without permission. She took it from his hands carefully, whispering a quiet thank you as she turned it around so the others can see.

“Sunny drew this awhile ago. I couldn’t get him to draw to me anymore after he drew this… thing. I can’t figure out, and it’s killing me.”

“That’s… funny. I-I brought something similar.” Basil produced the picture he’d been given. Aubrey put hers next to it, pointing to the creature.

“See?! I knew he had to give someone something with whatever this is!”

“Whoa, hold up- you guys got one too?” Kel asked, fishing in one of his pockets to grab a crumpled piece of paper, unfolding it to reveal a picture of a stick figure appearing to be on top of the same being. Aubrey perked up at the sight, slamming her finger into his drawing.

“I wonder if Hero got one too…” Basil pondered, looking at the shared point on the picture. He couldn’t help but notice how the lines all seemed to move from the same area, all vaguely curving to make the shape. Basil traced his finger on it, squinting his eyes. “It’s almost… like hair…”

“I can kinda see that,” Kel said, watching the way Basil’s hand moved. “It’s all long and stuff, I just figured that would be the easiest way to draw it or something.”

“Huh, it does look a little more… put together than I thought,” Aubrey admitted. She walked over to Basil, tapping his nose lightly. “I think we might be onto something thanks to you!” Basil reared back as he covered his nose, trying to stutter something out but failing as Kel wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

“Not bad, dude! I’m glad you have more brains for this sort of stuff!”

Basil buried his face in his hands as his friends remained close to him, chuckling at his sweet reactions. The bell rang overhead as they separated outside of the closet.

“Let’s meet at my place today; we can ask Hero once he gets home from visiting Mari!” Kel said. Aubrey and Basil nodded along, smiling as they held their pieces from Sunny together. They didn’t verbalize the swelling hope that found its way to them, but it didn’t take much to see it in the way they carried themselves throughout the rest of the school day.

\------

Hero opened the door to Mari’s hospital room as her mother was gathering her things. She had left a vase of assorted flowers along with a list of them and care instructions. She turned to see Hero smiling at her as he closed the door.

“Ah, I normally miss you when I come to visit her. The nurses have been telling me you’ve been frequenting her room. She… she would have loved that.” Mrs. Langley walked up to him, patting his shoulder. He chuckled as he looked at Mari’s figure.

“Believe me, I’m sure she knows somewhere in that head of hers I wouldn’t leave her alone through something like this.” He paused as he looked over at the flowers. “Those look lovely, did you bring those for her?”

“Oh, yes. With the help of our instructor, I put together a little arrangement. Everyone at the arrangement classes have been missing her dearly, so I decided I should make something with a bit of help; Mari would’ve loved it.” She sighed forlornly, bringing a hand to her eyes.

“Mrs. Langley, I really appreciate that you let me visit her when I can.” Hero says, watching her with sympathetic eyes.

“Oh, please. It would be a disservice to Mari if I didn’t let you in- she really is fond of you.” Mrs. Langley felt her phone buzz in her pocket, reading the caller ID before pointing to the hallway and walking out, waving goodbye to Hero. He waved to her back as she closed the door, answering her phone in a hushed tone.

Mari sat in the same position, though her skin had seemed to pale from the lack of sunlight. He couldn’t help but wonder how much longer she would be stuck inside; it wasn’t a surprise to anyone that she preferred to be out during sunny days like the one outside. He sat beside her, pulling her hair to reveal her neck. He looked at her, longing to hold her properly and take on her teasing all over again.

“I know that you’ve never been one for jewelry of any kind, but I… I may have gotten you something. I saw it in the store, and it reminded me of you. I hope-I hope you don’t mind.” He pulled out a case and opened it, revealing a silver piece with a charm in the shape of a treble clef. He bent down and clasped it on, careful to nor disturb anything around her in the process and keep her head properly supported. He pulled back after adjusting the charm to show prominently, smiling a little at how it gleamed in the light.

“I think… I think you would really like it.” He felt his hand curl around the empty container as his face fell a bit. He sat down in the chair, resting his head on his hands. “You wouldn’t believe how everyone has been pulling together to help Sunny out. I haven’t seen Aubrey and Kel actually fight in awhile; it’s all been put on the back burner for him. And he… he gave me this drawing the other day, and I…” Hero bit his lip as he produced it, trying to make heads or tails of it. The sadness in the drawing, the figure so far away- something about it hurt him. “... why does it feel like he’s trying to tell me something? I haven’t heard him use his voice, but it’s like he’s screaming and-and crying for me to figure it out.”

He could almost hear Mari’s voice ring in his head like bells:  _ ‘Cheer up, Hero!’  _ The way her hair would sway as she smiled, holding his hands in her own wouldn’t leave his head. He found himself lacing his fingers in hers the same way she had always done to him.

“I know you don’t like it when I worry about you, but I… every day that passes by, I can’t help but see your face lose just a little bit more of its glow while you’re stuck here. I really… I really need you, Mari.” He let out a bitter laugh as he squeezed her hand just a little tighter. “I feel so cheesy saying that out loud. I know you’d probably tease me for saying something like that. I just-I can’t help it.” He heard the door click behind him as a comforting hand found its way to his back. He looked up, her mother smiling sadly at the two of them.

“It looks lovely on her, Hero.”

He let himself weep over Mari, Charlotte rubbing his back in circular motions, affirming his feelings. Together, they mourned for someone they hadn’t lost yet as the heart monitor kept time.

\------

Mari walked through the door triumphantly, being taken aback by the fact that she was standing in her home. She could hear her mother quietly humming from behind the bathroom door, cooing quietly. She tentatively opened the door, not expecting to see her mom look so young, her hair short like how it was when Mari was still in elementary school. Her mother turned around, revealing a baby sunny in the bathtub. She walked over to Mari, putting a soft hand on her shoulder.

“Be a dear and watch your brother for me; Mommy has to go check on dinner,” she said. Mari turned to ask her something, but her mother seemed to have disappeared in thin air, no trace of her ever being in the room. Sunny happily splashed around in the water, getting Mari’s clothes wet. She moved closer to the tub, washing his hair gently as he watched her with curious eyes. 

“What am I gonna do with you, little buddy?” She asked, sighing as she felt around beside her for a towel with no luck. Mari turned around to see it on the other side of the room, briskly walking over and picking it up. It was only when she picked it up that she noticed a dried, brownish splotch on the soft material. She ran her thumb over it, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to figure out what it could possibly have come from. Behind her, she heard Sunny scream out before being sharply cut off. She gasped and turned around to the tub, noticing Sunny wasn’t visible, ripples where he was once sitting upright still moving around the tub. 

Mari panicked as she threw her hands around the tub of now murky water, finding no sign of his body or the bottom of the tub. She began to hyperventilate as she continued to furiously feel around, gradually putting her arms deeper and deeper into the body of water. Finally, she looked around the room and took a deep breath before diving her head into the water. A force from behind pushed her completely into the water, making her lose some of her air as she instinctively screamed.

She fell endlessly in the opaque liquid, it clinging to her skin and wrapping around her. Mari opened her mouth to scream, but no bubbles came out; instead accidentally inhaling the water. The taste of iron filled her mouth as she sputtered, putting her hands over her mouth helplessly as she felt her lungs fill. She couldn’t push the question of her inevitable death away from her mind, finally willingly opening her mouth. She waited for it to swiftly flow into her, only to be released from the feeling as a new weight found its way onto her neck, light in nature. She hit the ground of the dark room once more, coughing up water that didn’t seem to exist anymore. As she regained her composure once more, she quickly felt around her neck to see if something new had found its way to her.

Sure enough, a silver necklace laid on her collarbone. She laid on the ground flat and closed her eyes for a moment, hearing Hero’s voice echo somewhere far away. He seemed distressed with how his voice hiccupped, but it was the only solace she had. She looked at where she had gently placed the rock that appeared in a similar manner before picking it up and placing it in her skirt pocket, wishing it were larger in size. She continued to listen to his voice quietly as it wavered, putting her hand out to the sky as she listened. 

For a moment, she thought she felt his familiar hand grab onto hers.

\------

Aubrey, Kel, and Basil all sat together on the couch, chatting amongst themselves as the front door unlocked. Hero trudged in with a tired expression on his face until his eyes met with the kids. He instinctively smiled as he put down his things and walked over to them.

“Oh, perfect timing! We all need to ask you something!” Aubrey said, immediately shuffling through some papers.

“How was Mari today?” Basil asked, coming over with his piece of paper in one hand and patting Hero’s arm with his other. Hero sighed, looking away from the kids.

“Well… she hasn’t gotten any worse. It’s all I can ask for, really.” Basil nodded along with his statement as Kel grabbed his piece of paper. They looked at each other then Hero before putting them all out to him. 

“Sunny drew these, and we’re trying to find out what it is,” Basil explained. Hero took the one Basil was holding, looking at the handiwork.

“It looks sad and is made of hair or something like that!” Kel announced with pride. Aubrey nodded along as she turned hers back to herself and continued looking at it.

“Well, let’s see… it looks taller than him, too, and it looks like that’s his staircase,” Hero mumbled, trying to look closer at the picture. Basil furrowed his brows at the words as he thought to himself before quietly gasping. 

“Did you figure it out?!” Kel asked quickly.

“I-I-maybe? Does-does anyone have any of the photos of all of us together?” Basil asked desperately as he looked between everyone.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Hero said, walking to his room and coming back with Basil’s photo album. “The last time I went over there, it was laying right next to Sunny’s door. I think there’s a photo missing, but everything else is completely intact.” Basil quickly took the album from his hands and flipped through the pages before taking one of the photos from their slots.

“Put-put all the drawings together, please.” Everyone obliged as Basil’s shaky hands fumbled the photo which fluttered between the three pictures. It was one of Mari holding Sunny while he was fast asleep. He picked it back up and compared it to the other pictures, the length of her hair matching the monster’s length in total. Everyone gave worried glances to each other, the fact slowly dawning on them.

“... it’s Mari?” Hero breathlessly asked.

“It would make sense, wouldn’t it?” Basil answered quietly, not making eye contact with the others. “We know they fell down the stairs, the way it’s drawn looks like hair, it looks sad- all of the pieces make sense.”

“I hate to make matters more complicated, but I think that I have something else confusing to add then,” Hero admitted. He went back to his bedroom once again, grabbing a folder he’d laid on his desk separate from everything else before returning to the group.

“Ooh, a folder. How fancy,” Kel laughed a bit. Aubrey shot him a glare and he quieted down after a few moments. Hero opened it up and gently took out a single piece of paper, laying it with the others. The picture depicted the creature-- now assumed to be Mari-- and a pair of hands coming from off of the page.

“... Huh.” Aubrey looked at it, putting her hands out in the same way as the picture, curling her fingers as though grabbing onto something.

“So, he’s grabbing Mari in the picture?” Kel asked. 

“I don’t know, Kel. It looks more like a push,” Aubrey said, mimicking the movement over and over.

“But that wouldn’t make any sense! Why would he even push Mari?!” Kel asked her, reaching to her hands and closing them slightly to recreate a grabbing motion. “If she fell down the stairs, it’s obvious she’d try to grab her!”

“Sure, but that doesn’t feel right,” Hero said, looking over at Kel. “Though you are right; it makes no sense if it is pushing…”

As the kids chattered amongst themselves, the sun had set. They all stayed for dinner, Mrs. Thompson happily accepting the company. Eventually Aubrey saw what time it was and got her shoes on.

“We should get back together sometime soon if someone can figure out more about the pictures. Maybe whoever is going over tomorrow should ask Sunny about it.”

“Ah, I’m actually going over to bring some food over to his mom,” Hero said as he got his jacket on, heading towards the front door, “so I can just ask him now.” Hero opened the door, motioning Aubrey out. 

“If it’s okay, do you mind if I stay over a little longer? It’s been awhile since I’ve gotten out of the house, and I sort of… missed…” Basil trailed off in his question nervously. Kel wrapped his arms around the smaller child, grinning.

“Of course you can! Camp Lazlo is about to come on, we can watch it together!” Kel rushed Basil to the couch as he shot his arm out to the remote, turning the TV on quickly. Hero and Aubrey looked at each other, laughing a little. Aubrey said her goodbyes as she walked off, leaving Hero to walk over to Sunny’s house. He let himself in with a key from under a watering can out front. He opened the door, noticing how dark the house was first. He closed the door silently, walking to the kitchen to put down a container of his mother’s cooking. The quiet ambience didn’t feel quite right, making him uneasy.

He walked up the stairs, immediately noticing Sunny’s door ajar. He bit his lip as he debated whether or not to let himself in, finally biting the bullet and opening the door.

“Sunn-?”

He stopped as he called, taking note of how messy his room had become. The bed was unkempt, the blankets spilling onto the floor. Multiple pieces of crumpled paper littered the room, surrounding a small path to the bed from the door. Multiple plates of barely touched food piled up, slightly smelling. He quietly started picking papers up and putting them in a trash can sunny kept next to the desk. He turned his head to see the old cast with everyone’s names on it busted. He took it in his hands as he softly gasped, seeing a bit of dried blood on the inside as he turned it around. The entirety of the room started to become overwhelming for him, making his head throb at the mess around him.

The sound of a door clicking from the outside made him jump out of his skin, quickly putting the cast down and repositioning himself in the room to look as though he’d been simply cleaning the entire time. As he continued picking up pieces of paper, he shoved a couple in his pocket. Sunny didn’t come to the door, making him worry slightly.

“Hey, I’m sorry I let myself in,” Hero said as he poked his head out of Sunny’s room. Instead of seeing the figure of the boy, he was greeted with his mother’s silhouette, sitting on the staircase quietly weeping. She blew her nose into a tissue as she continued to cry, unintelligible noises falling from her mouth.

“Mrs. Langley…?”

That grabbed her attention and she sniffled loudly, perking up to look over her shoulder. “O-oh, it’s just you, Hero. You scared me a little.”

“I-sorry, I didn’t mean to,” he shuffled over to her and crouched down. She continued to sniffle, occasionally pulling another tissue from a box she had seemed to be carrying.

“You shouldn’t have to see me like this, I’m so sorry. It’s just-it’s been really hard without her, and I worry more and more about Sunny everyday. I don’t even know if he’s been eating, and he just… he misses Mari like me, but I can’t get him to talk about her. I… I just…” She sobbed into her hands. Hero felt himself tear up, but quickly held them back as a feeling washed over him.

“He… he wasn’t in his room.”

“P-pardon?” She replied.

“Sunny, he-he wasn’t in his room. The door was open, I figured he went to the bathroom, I--” He got up quickly and looked back into the room, seeing he still wasn’t there. He rushed back down the stairs, feeling his heart begin to beat out of his chest. Images of where Sunny could possibly started all popping up in his head, each one far more worrisome than the previous. It wasn’t until he allowed himself to breathe that he heard a quiet thud coming down from Mari’s room. He rushed down and opened the door, not caring about how it slammed into the wall.

Sure enough, Sunny was beneath her piano, whimpering to himself as he helplessly hit one of the legs of it. He didn’t notice Hero’s entry, still occasionally hitting the leg. Hero’s arms wrapped around Sunny, picking him up hurriedly.

“What were you-why--” Hero started before stopping. The small boy was shaking in his arms, and felt far more skeletal than when he’d last held him. Sunny buried his face in Hero’s chest, trying to stop himself from crying out. Hero could’ve sworn he heard Mari’s name in his chest as he carried him out of her room. He passed Sunny’s mother, giving her a worried expression as he opened the door to Sunny’s room. He set Sunny down on his bed, looking around the room.

“I’m going to clean this all up. Just wait for me, buddy.”

As he left the room with a good amount of the plates, he thought he heard Sunny call for him. He turned around to see Sunny cough as he weakly put up his casted arm. The way Sunny looked so helpless made Hero’s heart hurt, but he knew he couldn’t do much more than clean up the area around him. He put the dishes in the sink and washed them, taking care to put the food scraps in the trash rather than the drain. He finished up and walked back up the stairs to see the door had been closed once more.

He sighed, mumbling an apology to Sunny before walking down the stairs. In the back of his head, he could hear Sunny’s voice clear as day, asking help. He shook it away, trying not to think of he had made the right move leaving the door closed.

\------

Sunny watched as the lightbulb swung over his head once more as he stared up at whatever lack of ceiling he had been graced with. The empty feeling in his chest bothered him to an extent, so he rose from the ground and dusted himself off. Mewo paced around him, rubbing lovingly on his leg. He reached down to pat her, his eyes landing on the door that was just beyond the limits of the room. Sunny hesitated before reaching his foot over the border. He approached the door and stared it down. He finally put a hand on the doorknob, seeing it would open easily. The door opened, revealing nothing on the other side. Regardless he walked through.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was his friends sitting in a circle in a large room. Kel was arguing with Aubrey about something she had just put down when she looked up, excited. She ran through the game that they were playing and took both of his hands in hers as she pulled him closer to everyone.

“Oh, you’re finally awake!” She beamed at him, turning to face the others cheerily. Hero sat back and waved while Kel looked disappointed at the game, groaning as he laid back on the ground. Between all of his friends, he seemed to forget the feeling of misery that had clung to him.


	5. 5

Basil sat in front of Sunny’s door, clutching a drawing he had done in class of his friend nervously. It had been routine to come see him, but five months with little progress didn’t feel hopeful to him. He looked down at his drawing before putting it on the ground and slipping it under.

“Hey, I-I did this in art class today, we were, um-we were supposed to draw our best friend, and I-I thought you’d want to see it too, since I drew you!” He tried to keep a happy tone, struggling to smile through his nerves. There was no sound from the other side of the door to indicate that he’d been heard, much less to show the picture he gave was picked up. He shifted to sitting on his knees as he put his ear to the door, trying to listen for any sign of Sunny. Not even the faint sound of breathing could be heard from the other side, making him antsy. He reached up to the doorknob to turn it, finding it to be locked. He panicked as he started trying to turn it harder, holding his breath.

“S-Sunny, can you-can you at least- at least say something? Anything?” Basil nervously laughed, starting to stand up and putting both his hands on the door knob to put more force into his pulls. Eventually, the door flung open as he fell to the ground, groaning as he hit the ground. Looking up, his eyes were stuck on a silhouette of Sunny hanging from a nonexistent ceiling, slowly swinging from side to side. Basil couldn’t take his eyes off as he felt a feeling bubble in his chest. He scrambled to get off the floor and get Sunny down, his hands fumbling on the cold body. He felt a weight hit his head and the floor beneath him crumble, screaming out for Sunny as he fell.

He woke up with a start, still screaming for Sunny. He looked around to see he was back in his room, surrounded by plants once more. He curled himself up into a ball as he let himself calm down, taking in the air. There was no way Sunny would be dead like that, he reasoned to himself. Slowly putting his feet down onto the soft carpeting, he made his way over towards the new pot he’d put in his windowsill, smiling at its presence. It was only a couple white tulips, but something about its shape was relaxing to the boy. He crouched down to eye level with it, examining it’s petals carefully.

He had only planted them a month after Sunny had started distancing himself from everyone, and he cared for them far more than normally necessary. He felt himself frown a little over the way one of the tulips had started to droop, quickly shuffling over to one of his flower care guides, flipping through the pages. He looked between the recommendations to help and the flower itself. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t been taking perfect care of it and went through everything that could possibly be causing the problem. He groaned in frustration as he tossed the book to the side and sat in front of the tulips, burying his face in his hands.

“When are you coming back, Sunny?” He whimpered, his lip quivering as he lifted his head up to the moonlit petals. He’d often woken up at night, finding it impossible to sleep while Sunny was in this state. The bags under his eyes were evidence enough of the lack of sleep. As his vision blurred in and out, he thought he made out the door to his room opening and a distant voice asking if he was alright. He didn’t bother to answer as he zoned out, completely lost in the thoughts of memories with his friend, especially, how cute he was when he was enjoying being buried in the sand, or the way his face relaxed when he played his violin--

He stopped in his path of thinking, a question swelling in his head. Since when was Sunny cute to him? He thought about it for a while before leaning his head on the windowsill, the cooler surface foreign to his skin as he sighed and drifted in and out of sleep once more.

\------

Hero didn’t know how long he had been sitting next to Mari, only noting the occasional ticking of the clock and the heart rate monitor, it's never-changing beeps bringing no good news to him. He had brought her some moisturizer, considering how dry her hands had become. He gently massaged it into them, his fingers lingering in the creases of her own. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything as he did, but kept looking at her face for some sign that she could feel it.

“Is it okay if I join you?” Basil asked tiredly as he opened the door. Hero turned and nodded to the smaller boy before turning his attention back to Mari. Hero watched as Basil sat on the other side of her and took out the photo he had used to compare to the drawings Sunny had made. He couldn’t help but notice the dark circles forming under Basil’s eyes, making him worry.

“You know you should probably take some time to rest,” he stated. Basil jumped a little and looked away quickly, flashing a nervous smile.

“Is it-is it really that obvious?”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you haven’t shut your eyes in months,” Hero chuckled a little bit. Truth be told, he had felt pretty fatigued as no sign of improvement made its appearance, but he refused to show how tired he was to the others. Without Mari around, he figured he should try and set himself as more of a role model than before. He took time to make sure everyone was keeping up with their schoolwork, tutoring them if he could help. The amount of help his cooking had done for the family made it easier to supply the Langley’s with food when there was leftovers, which he packaged carefully with portions for both Sunny and his mother.

“Ah, I guess it’s-it’s been a little harder to sleep, that’s all. The flowers I’ve been tending to have been having a rough time, and everything I seem to do hasn’t been helping.” Basil leaned away from Mari’s bedside as he frowned a little, recalling the poor tulips. Hero tilted his head curiously at the mention of flowers.

“You got new flowers a while back? I’m surprised you didn’t tell us.”

“Well, I would have, but… with everything going on, I-I just…” Basil started before putting his face in his hands once more, closing his eyes as he tried to relax himself. Hero got up and walked to his side before getting down and rubbing his back sympathetically, his heart hurting as sobs began to wrack Basil’s body.

“If she never wakes up, I-what about Sunny? He just-he doesn’t… he doesn’t talk to us anymore,” Basil cried out, trying to keep his voice to a lower volume. “If Mari-if she doesn’t come back--what then?” 

Hero felt whatever response he had get caught in his throat as he looked at Mari’s still figure. Basil did have a point; what if Mari did never wake up? With the way Sunny had been faring, it would be safe to say he wouldn’t last much longer without her. He could still see Sunny’s frail figure when he closed his eyes, making pangs of guilt find their way into his head.

  
  


“For now, we just have to keep having faith in them. They aren’t invincible people, but hey- they’ve lasted this long. There’s no way they would go down without some sort of fight.”

“I… you’re right, I’m sorry.” Basil paused as he tried to compose himself. He felt Hero’s hand leave his back and watched as he sat next to Mari once more, getting comfortable in the chair.

“I… I have a question for you.”

“Hm? What’s up, Basil?” Hero asked, his patient smile making Basil a little more at ease despite the nerves that were finding their way to the smaller boy again. 

“... When did you realize you liked Mari?”

Hero looked back at Mari’s soft features, pausing to come up with an answer. Truth be told, he couldn’t pick out an exact moment that was a key indicator. All of the pieces had fallen into place, and he just knew he liked her. There was something about her constant positivity that made his heart feel at ease, and the way she could get him flustered over simple things was a new feeling to him. 

“There’s… there’s a lot of different ways to answer that. There was this one time though…” Hero held back the urge to smile as he could recall the way her voice replayed in his head repeatedly. “It was when Aubrey had first brought you to meet the rest of us, actually. The way she didn’t even hesitate to give you her camera, insisting that you should have it. Or- there was this one time at the beach where she chased me with a crab in her hand, laughing about how they would both get me.” Hero shook his head as he could hear her playful calls in his head. 

“That’s right, when she turned around, she… she just had this look when the sunset hit her face. She reached her hands out to touch mine, and I just… I knew I couldn’t replace it. I couldn’t replace her,” Hero said. Basil seemed to have trouble following along with Hero’s thoughts as he recalled many different occasions that made him know more and more that he would never want to part with her. Basil listened to every word nonetheless, noting how Hero’s posture had relaxed as he talked about every new thing. After a while though, he stopped himself short, looking at Basil.

“I… I should’ve asked; is there any reason you’re asking?” Basil squirmed around in his chair as his features turned pink at the question, looking away from Hero.

“It’s just… I had this feeling, and I guess I didn’t realize it was there until I wasn’t actively living in it,” Basil admitted.

“Oh? So you like someone?” Hero asked, smiling. Basil kept his gaze away from Hero but nodded quickly, giggling a little bit. 

“I… I think I do. It’s just, I don’t think there’s a really good way to admit it, given they have a lot going on right now-”

“You know you could just say it’s Sunny.” Hero quickly stated before blinking a few times and watching Basil turn far more red than any tomato he’d ever grown in his garden. Hero laughed a little bit, throwing his head back a bit as he did.

“So you fell for a Langley too? What… what even are the odds of that?” He squeezed Mari’s hand as he looked down at her, his face softening. “Wait until Mari hears about this… I don’t think she’ll let you figure out your feelings on your own. Isn’t that right?” He asked half-jokingly, closing his eyes little.

He wasn’t expecting her fingers to curl tighter around his hand, making his eyes shoot wide open as they twitched in his grasp. He looked at Basil quickly, mouthing for him to get a nurse. Basil looked confused until Hero pointed to Mari’s hand that had started to twitch, the smaller boy shooting out of the chair and down the hallway. He held his breath as he watched her expression twitch to life for a moment, a groan coming from her. The way the monitor had picked up speed slightly made his pulse go quicker.

This was a good sign.

\------

Mari felt a hand in hers once more, more prominent than ever. She squeezed it tightly, calling out to see if anyone could hear her. No one responded, making her yell in frustration, turning around to be greeted with a polaroid drifting down in front of her face. She quickly caught it in between her fingers, looking at its contents. Every time she blinked, the image would change to something completely new. She watched as her friends’ faces greeted her once more, their smiles making her lose the anger that had been gathering in her.

She heard a door click somewhere, grabbing her attention. They had never opened on their own before, only looming in the distance for her to conquer eventually. She ran over to the direction of the sound, seeing a door with light leaking from beneath it. She hastily opened the door and ran inside, greeted by the sunlight. She stopped in her tracks as she realized they were at the park, all of the kids playing with one another. A pair of hands wrapped around her from behind, making her quietly gasp a little. She turned her head to see Hero’s grin greet her. 

“It’s been so nice out, why aren’t you joining the others?” He hummed, letting go of Mari and walking in front of her. She looked around to see Sunny’s head bobbing around the road, Kel and Aubrey seeming to argue next to him. She couldn’t make out the words, but watched as they started pushing each other, each shove using more force than before. She gently pushed Hero out of the way before she started walking towards them, only to be stopped by the feeling of his hand grabbing her. She turned to see his eyes starting to take up more of his face than before, shaking her arm away from his grasp as she took a couple steps away. 

“What’s wrong, Mari? Did I do something wrong?” He asked, taking a couple steps closer. She turned back to Sunny, who was desperately holding onto Kel’s arm to try and break the two of them up from pushing each other around. She rushed away, ignoring Hero’s question as she dashed forward. She still couldn’t make out what the others were saying, but could hear him asking Kel to stop.

“Hey, stop that!” she shouted as she continued to move closer, reaching her hand out. Sunny’s eyes looked over to her and appeared to open his mouth to say something before he was shoved out into the street, tumbling to the ground and groaning a little. She pushed Kel and Aubrey out of the way, about to reach out to him when a car barrelled down the road. In a blink of an eye, Sunny was gone from the road, replaced with a large splotch of red on the surface beneath it. She felt her heart stop for a moment, seeing a shiny piece of paper where the stain was. She hesitantly walked over to it, trying to ignore the scent still wavering in the air of flesh as she picked it up.

It was smaller than she realized as she held it to the light, about the size of a gum wrapper. It looked like there was lettering etched into it as she held it up to the sun. She ignored the feeling of being pushed in the same fashion, somehow not falling over as she struggled to read it. She could hear the honk of another car before an impact so strong hit her entire body. She could still see the paper’s contents, quickly rushing to her feet as she appeared back in black space, calling for Sunny. She couldn’t figure out why the message felt so unsettling, but it set off countless alarms in her head.

‘Let’s Trade.’

\------

Aubrey stood outside the Langley’s house, unsure of whether to grab the key or just knock. She idled in front, lost in thought as to what to say to Sunny’s mom when she opened the door.

“Aubrey, what are you doing here? I thought it was my day,” Kel said, making her jump out of her skin before whipping back, a scared look in her eyes. Kel took a couple steps back, putting his hands up. She relaxed at the sight of him, dropping her shoulders and pouting a little.

“I didn’t think I’d have to say it to you too, but… my parents are arguing, and daddy told me to come here,” Aubrey said, holding on tight to the stuffed animal in her arms. Kel looked a little confused before his face got uncharacteristically serious. He looked around before sitting on the concrete where he had been standing, looking up at her.

“You wanna tell me about it?”

She giggled a bit at the way he watched her, but his face didn’t change the slightest. Something about how concerned he looked made her drop her guard. She sat down in front of him, putting the soles of her shoes on his as they sat with their legs out.

“They’ve been doing this a lot lately, but it sounded different this time. Daddy says mommy doesn’t do anything to help him out when he’s trying so hard, and she just… she just sits there.” She looked back at Kel to make sure he was listening, watching as he nodded encouragingly along. “But this time, she got mad back, and she started picking things up, and I think she broke a window with a bottle. I didn’t watch too closely. But he said to come to Mrs. Langley’s home, that she would understand.”

“Whoa… I’m glad you’re okay, at least.” He smiled wide, making her giggle a little at the sight. 

“I’m glad you’re still a prick,” she mumbled playfully as she moved her feet away from his. He pouted a bit at the comment before getting up, grabbing her hand and hoisting her up to his level with ease, her face hitting his chest softly as she rose. She didn’t mind it much, considering the fabric was soft and smelled like orange soda. Aubrey let her face linger there for a moment longer before pushing him away as she stuck her tongue out at him and rang the doorbell.

“Hey, it’s cool. You know she left the key for us outside,” Kel said, going to reach for the key. She grabbed him by his hand, stopping him mid-motion. He gave her a quizzical look before lacing his fingers in her hand, causing her to blush slightly. The door cracked open audibly, grabbing their attention. 

“Oh, good! Kel, and… Aubrey? It’s getting a little dark, what are you doing here?” Sunny’s mom asked, furrowing her brows. Aubrey squeezed Kel’s hand as she clutched her stuffed animal with her other.

“Mom and dad are fighting again.”

Without another word, the door swung fully open, Sunny’s mom ushering her inside and closing the door. Kel looked at her and gave her a thumbs up as he let go of her hand. A part of her kicked herself for the way she wanted his hand back. She watched as Kel ran up the stairs, knocking on Sunny’s door and yelling his name a couple times in an excited tone. She followed Sunny’s mom like a little duckling into Mari’s room, watching as she opened one of Mari’s drawers and passed her a long shirt.

“Here, you can use this to sleep in. I’m sure you want something a little more comfortable if you’re staying the night, and Mari wouldn’t mind it. You can stay in her room, if that’s alright with you,” Sunny’s mom explained, looking around the room aimlessly.

“That’s perfect, thank you!” The door closed, leaving Aubrey to look around Mari’s room once more. In all of the visits she had made to check on Sunny, she hadn’t even thought of coming back into Mari’s room without her here. She had always loved how the scent of lavender and vanilla lingered in the room, even noticing hints of the smell after months without Mari. She looked to the shirt she had been given, changing into it quickly and flapping her arms around excitedly. The size of the shirt made her look much smaller in comparison to it as she danced around, flopping herself onto the bed. 

Aubrey closed her eyes for a moment, still hearing Mari’s voice tell her that she’d be able to help her with finding her shoe the first time they met. She held onto her stuffed animal tightly, wishing she could help Mari more than she had been trying to. She knew that she was doing everything in her power to keep Sunny okay for Mari, but couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t enough for her. She got up, looking over to Mari’s piano and walking up to it, scooting herself onto the piano bench. She lifted the cover off of the keys, frowning slightly at the sight of dust that had begun to collect on them. Looking around the room, Aubrey found a duster and got to work cleaning them off, smiling at her work when she finished.

Aubrey sat back down, putting her tiny fingers on the ivory keys, the weight of them feeling foreign to her. She’d always wanted to learn how to play the piano like Mari, but she never had the time to ask her about it, especially with how much she had been practicing before the incident. Hesitantly, she pushed down a couple of keys, smiling at the warm notes that came from the instrument. Aubrey continued pressing the same keys with one hand as she let her hand play in the upper range of the piano, smiling at how pretty it sounded. While her playing was nothing compared to Mari’s, there was something about how peaceful the sound was that made her feel warm.

Kel sat in front of Sunny’s bedroom, talking about some of his wins with his pet rock when the door opened suddenly, Kel falling over. He caught a glimpse of Sunny’s face, paler than he’s ever seen him before. Kel excitedly yelled for Sunny, but the other boy didn’t listen, instead rushing down the stairs. He flung open Mari’s door, taking no heed to knock.

“Mari…??”

Aubrey turned her head quickly to the sound of Sunny, watching him catch his breath. She bounced off the seat and ran to him, grabbing his hands and leading him into the room. His mouth stayed open as she moved him step by step into the room, smiling and calling his name, at first seeing Mari instead of her. His words got caught in his throat as he struggled to come to reality.

“Sunny?! I can’t believe you came out!” Kel said, peeking his head in the door, smiling and putting his hands on Sunny’s shoulders. Sunny looked back to see an unrecognizable blur, but blinked the uncertainty away quickly to see Kel smiling at him, his hair longer than Sunny remembered. Looking back at ‘Mari’, Aubrey took her place, hugging him and mumbling something into him. Every part of him wanted to leave and hide back in his room, but instead he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before looking between the two of them. He couldn’t help but look at Mari’s piano, a quiet part of him flatly telling him he’d never hear her play again. As his friends celebrated his presence, he silently made his mind up about something that had been fixated in his head for the past five months.

Kel ran back home, begging his mom if he could stay over for the night too, Marla finally relenting and letting him if he promised to do dishes for the following week. He ran back over in his pajamas already, not hesitating to hold Aubrey and Sunny in his arms excitedly while he ignored the light protests from Aubrey. He stayed on the couch, falling asleep incredibly fast as he hit the surface.

Sunny retreated back to his room when the excitement was well and done, leaning on the door as he closed it and sliding down the wood. He could still hear Kel’s snoring from in his room, and he attempted to cover his ears as the incessant noise continued to find its way throughout the house.

It was time to get to work on his plan.

\------

Basil walked over after school, trying to push the images of Sunny’s body lingering from his dreams away. He let himself in quietly, petting Mewo when she came up to him curiously. She purred at the contact, leaning into Basil’s soft hand, making him giggle a little. He stood in front of Sunny’s room, Mewo still at his heels.

“Hey, Sunny. I heard you had a sleepover with Aubrey and Kel the other night, that’s great!” Basil said, smiling at the door. He saw a paper slip beneath the door and he picked it up, happily unfolding it. His smile dropped as he read the only word on the paper.

_ Go. _

He grabbed a pen he had taken to keep on himself for communicating with Sunny out of his pocket, drawing a question mark on it before slipping it back underneath the door. It only took a few seconds for the word to be written on the paper again and sent under the door. Basil felt his throat tighten at the word, tears starting to prick at his eyes as he held the paper, repeating his own question mark. He lost count of how many times he sent the paper back underneath the door only to get the same response, the final one accented with the word being underlined. He choked on his worries, feeling them start to spill out of his head as he walked away from the door to the stairs, only to walk back in front of Sunny’s room. He knew he wouldn’t get a different response, but he couldn’t help wondering if there was something he could do.

Sunny’s door clicked open as Basil turned away, trying to come up with some plan. Sunny’s hands found their way onto Basil’s back as he lightly pushed him closer to the stairs, earning a squeak. Something inside Sunny snapped as he reached out to the other boy, noticing he was a little too close to the stairs for comfort. Basil whipped around to see fear in Sunny’s eyes, mouthing something over and over. When Basil seemed to fully have his balance again, Sunny took his hands off of him before balling them into fists as he looked at the ground, his shoulders shaking.

“Just… go.”

Basil watched for a moment, contemplating whether to beg Sunny to tell him what’s wrong, but knew it would do no good. He cried out as he quietly walked down the stairs, the occasional sniffle punctuating his movement. He closed the door to Sunny’s house and held his hand on the doorknob for another moment, realizing he was still holding the paper he had just exchanged with Sunny. He clutched it tighter in his hands as he cried out, catching Hero’s attention from inside his house. He rushed out, quickly moving to the sound of Basil’s cries, looking at him confused.

“I-Basil, what happened?” Hero asked, trying to mask his worry as best he could. Basil didn’t verbally respond, only holding the paper out to Hero, who gingerly took it from the smaller boy’s grasp. He looked at Basil with pity and moved in to give him a hug, letting him cry into his shirt. The only thought Basil had, as his fingers held on for dear life to Hero’s shirt, was how tired he was.


	6. 6

Six months, one week, two days.

Sunny had kept track of how long Mari had been fast asleep in the hospital, marking down every day on his calendar on his computer. There wasn’t a day that went by without him wondering when he would see her smiling face again, the same one that might forgive him for what he did. He had told everyone to stop visiting him besides Hero, who would occasionally give him updates on Mari if there were any. Most of the time, there wasn’t anything new, although a month before he had stopped by to say she was starting to be responsive.

That, however, was a month ago. Nothing new had come of her occasional hand squeeze, or her heart monitor showing a new fluctuation. She was still laying in the same hospital bed, surrounded by gifts and other items everyone else had left her. Hero had noted how close her birthday was, saying everyone would be leaving her gifts so she could have them when she woke up. Sunny felt a bitter taste in his mouth as he thought about what he would do when she woke up. How could he even begin to atone for what he had done to her? The question floated in his mind as he picked at a loose thread in his tank top, ignoring the mess his room had become once more since the last time Hero helped clean it up a little.

“Maybe you could switch with me?” he heard Mari’s voice offer, the sound of her walking towards and sitting down next to him. He looked to his side to see a blurry, almost ethereal glow to her skin as she looked at him, ruffling his hair lightly as she smiled. He wished there was warmth to her touch, but wouldn’t dare complain. He simply nodded as he moved closer to where she was, only for her presence to be gone. He looked back to the now empty space before curling up. The more he thought about those words, the more it cemented his plan. 

There was one way he could make it up to her, he supposed.

\------

Kel watched Basil creep through the crowded hallway of the school, avoiding him and Aubrey like he had for the past month. He pushed and shoved his way through the crowd to get to Basil, grabbing his hand and leading him into a nearby bathroom. When he checked to make sure no one else was in the bathroom, Kel put both of his hands next to Basil’s sides against the wall, effectively pinning him.

“Look, I don’t know what happened, but you’re gonna have to tell us at some point. Hero said you had your reasons, but don’t you trust us?” Kel asked. Basil looked at both of the other boy’s hands as he felt himself push harder against the cold surface.

“I-I-do you really think this is necessary?” Basil asked timidly, trying to gently remove one of Kel’s hands from the wall, but they wouldn’t budge. Kel’s face moved closer to his, making Basil nervously squirm around.

“If you won’t tell us what’s going on? Yeah, duh!” Kel put his forehead on Basil’s, still keeping eye contact with him before sighing as he closed his eyes. “If we’re all going to work together, talking is important. And besides…” he looked away for a moment before quickly tapping Basil’s nose, “I don’t like when you look sad.” Basil squeaked at his words, frantically looking away and hiding his face. Kel laughed a little as he let his arms wrap around basil as he picked him up, swinging him around a bit before putting him on the ground, letting his hands go down to the other boy’s with a smile.

“I…” Basil took a look at Kel’s sincere expression before giving up. “It’s just… Sunny told me to leave him alone, he even almost pushed me down the stairs. He caught me though, but he… he wanted me to not come back.”

Kel was caught off guard, his expression growing to worry as he squeezed Basil’s hands with his own, thinking about what he could do. Basil sniffled a little and Kel immediately rose to wipe the tears out of his eyes, giving a soft smile.

“Hey, we can go over together. It’s my turn today, and I know he gave me this piece of paper telling me to go or whatever, but I can’t just leave him there. I’m sure he was just going through a rough patch; just wait! I’m sure he really does want you there.”

Basil searched Kel’s face for any doubt, not finding any. He smiled a little bit, finally squeezing back and bringing Kel’s face close to his.

“I… I don’t mind that.” Basil mumbled, enjoying being so close to Kel, feeling the boy’s hands warm his own up. Kel could see the way Basil’s cheeks had turned a rosy color, and it made something in his chest feel a bit different, but he didn’t mind it, whatever it was. He backed away from Basil, not letting go of his hand even though they were done talking. He looked down at their hands, and Basil’s small smile.

“This is… you don’t mind this, right?” Kel asked. Basil looked confused before flushing a darker color, a bashful smile forming.

“W-what? No! I-I don’t mind it at all, it’s-it’s really, uh, nice! And your-your hands are warm, and mine end up being really cold a lot and…” Basil continued on, but Kel could only focus on the way Basil’s hair moved around when he looked at every other space besides his face, feeling himself melt a little at the sight. He laughed a bit, squeezing Basil’s hand.

“Then I won’t let go until I have to.”

Basil smiled, more genuine than he thought he had in months. He walked with Kel down the hallway, not letting go of his hand the entire way through.

\------

It was another regular day of checking in with Sunny. Hero knocked on his door to show he was there before turning around, leaning on the wall. He found himself staring at the ceiling as he waited for the telltale sound of shuffling from behind the door to make itself apparent. After a little while, he heard Sunny’s familiar footsteps, smiling a bit at his presence.

“One of these days, you should come with me to see Mari. She’s been a little more responsive everyday. I wonder if she’s been hearing me talk to her recently,” Hero lamented, sighing a bit. If she could hear every word he’s said to her since the beginning of this mess, he knew she’d have a lot to say when she woke up. He wasn’t expecting to hear Sunny’s door open, making him turn around to see Sunny’s small frame. His eyes were red, as though he’d been crying before opening the door. Hero was about to ask him why when Sunny finally spoke.

“... I want to see her.” Sunny’s voice was hoarse as he spoke, not making direct eye contact with Hero. He got down to eye level with Sunny, putting his hand on his head.

“Then let’s go. Get dressed, I’ll be waiting for you outside, I need to tell the others-”

“Please don’t tell them,” Sunny said quickly, holding onto Hero’s arm desperately. Some part of him wanted to deny the request, but the moment he looked at the worried eyes Sunny and his sister shared, the will to say anything against the request died down in him. He nodded, smiling a little before walking down the stairs to talk to Sunny’s mother.

Sunny looked around his room, opening a couple drawers to get some clean clothing. As he got it on somewhat quickly, he pulled a violin string from deep within his dresser and put it into his pocket before leaving. His mother saw him come down the stairs and smiled sweetly, walking over to him and squatting to pat his head.

“Be good, and don’t do anything too crazy. I love you, Sunny,” she said. Her arms wrapped around him and he hesitantly returned the favor before pulling back and nodding. Charlotte looked back at Hero, telling him to make sure Sunny got back home by 8, Hero nodding along and affirming he would get Sunny back on time. With a final goodbye, they walked out the door, Sunny feeling the warmth of sunlight on him for the first time in months. He closed his eyes as he held Hero’s hand, letting him lead the way quietly while he listened to birds chirping in the distance.

He heard the sound of sliding doors opening, and Hero greeting someone. Sunny opened his eyes and saw the waiting room of the hospital. Hero chatted with the lady at the counter, seeming to be on familiar terms with her after all of his visits. After a few more moments, she pointed down the hallway, and Hero took Sunny in tow. He opened the door to the hospital room, ushering Sunny into it. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Mari’s still body as it laid in the same bed he had seen her in all those months before. Sunny kicked himself for not coming sooner. How lonely has she felt everyday, stuck with nowhere to go? He could feel questions filling his mind as he wordlessly walked up to Mari, her hand open as though it had been holding something for a while. Hero walked up behind him, feeling his heart sink a little as Sunny quietly touched her hand to see if it responded to him.

“If… if you’d like a minute with her, I wouldn’t mind stepping out. I’m sure you have things you want to say to her, don’t you?” Hero asked. Sunny looked up at Hero contemplatively before nodding. Hero walked back towards the door, stealing another look at the siblings before shutting the door and waiting outside patiently.

Sunny finally put both of his hands on Mari’s, holding her so tightly. The bit of warmth in her hand made him feel a bit more at ease as he sighed, closing his eyes. There was so much on his mind, so many things he had to say; he just didn’t know where to begin. He let his thumb gently rub over her knuckles. With a deep breath, he opened his mouth to speak.

\------

Mari opened her eyes to find herself in the treehouse, nothing immediately out of the ordinary. She looked outside only to see what she assumed to be other trees blending together to make a giant dream like blur. When she turned back around to face the table, Sunny was sitting at it, playing cards. He looked at her and motioned her to sit. She walked over to the opposite side of the table before sitting down, looking at him with wary eyes.

“You’re… you’re not going to morph into anything weird, or get hurt, or disappear this time, are you?” She asked tentatively. He shook his head quietly as he put down a card on the table, leaving his hand open for her to grab. Mari took it quickly, feeling a warmth stronger than any other time she had held someone in every other room she had found herself in. 

“Can you hear me?” He asked quietly. She gave him a confused look as she nodded.

“Of course I can, you’re right in front of me.” Sunny’s ponderous silence made her worry a little, but didn’t deter her from holding his hand. He stared straight at her as he tilted his head.

“Are you… tired of this?”

Mari thought to herself before nodding, her smile not as enthusiastic as normal. “I suppose I am. It’s been… challenging.” She stopped, squeezing his hand a little. “I’ve… I’ve always worried about something bad happening to you, and watching all these different ways you leave me- I don’t think it’s good for my heart.” She watched as he produced something from his pocket and quietly put it on the table. She couldn’t quite make it out from where she was sitting, squinting with some hope to see it better. Sunny watched her for a moment before giving her a small smile, getting up from the table, and walking to the exit.

“I think… I think we should trade places. You’ve been gone long enough, and I just wanted to say goodbye before switching with you.” He looked out the door frame, his eyes staring at something in the distance. Mari got up, trying to find words to say, but couldn’t seem to get them out. He gave her one final smile before starting to jump. She ran to the door and tried to grasp his arm, but it was too late. Sunny fell away, disappearing into the blurring scenery. She felt tears form in her eyes as she looked at her empty hand, pulling it close to her and weeping. She sat on the wooden planks of the treehouse, finally crying for every Sunny she had lost in those forsaken rooms, each way more and more concerning than the last. Mari hiccuped as she tried to stifle her tears, walking over to the table and picking up what he had left her.

A single metallic string played between her fingers, dangling and catching the light from outside. She recognized it immediately, her grip around it tightening quickly. She bit her lip to repress the sobs that wanted to wrack her body, whimpering as she could feel pieces getting put together in her head. 

_ That’s right. It’s broken, isn’t it. _

She looked out the door frame, standing taller than before as she watched the colors steadily merge into a murky mess slowly. She gripped the doorframe before following his movements, screaming as she fell. Colors danced around her as the wind blew her hair around. She closed her eyes as she waited for an impact that never came, instead waking up in the dark room. This time, however, she couldn’t seem to find anything she had been left before, only a puddle somewhere far off in the distance she had never seen. She moved towards it, slowly at first. The sound of Hero’s voice caused her to spur further and further until she had broken into a full sprint, desperately holding her hands out. She fell in front of it after an excruciatingly painful amount of time, looking down into it to see Hero’s face in his hands, cradling himself as he weeped her name.

Mari couldn’t help but feel a pang in her chest as he watched him call for her over and over, his honeyed words laced with more worry than she had ever heard in her life before. He had never been one to fully admit to his feelings unless he was extremely tired, but this… this was different. His hair had grown out longer than before, his clothes a little ragged as he breathed in and out heavily. She called his name multiple times, with no response. She put her hand in the puddle, realizing how it slowly sunk through the surface of the liquid. Her eyes lit up as she looked around before plunging her arm into it slowly, gradually getting more through. She felt her shoulder submerge before taking a deep breath and putting her face through. His voice became clearer and clearer, every word feeling like it buzzed around her entire being. 

“Mari, please, I… I don’t know how long I can keep going like this, I… I…” He started. It felt like her vocal chords were setting themselves on fire as she took a deep breath once more, screaming.

“I’M COMING!”

Her eyes shot open as she coughed new air into her lungs violently, shaking as she did. Hero’s eyes opened immediately at the sound, watching her gasp repeatedly. He was about to say something when her arm shot towards him, her grasp still weak from all the time she hadn’t been able to. Her head slowly turned towards him, tears pricking her eyes as she spoke her first words.

“Find… Sunny… now.”

\------

Sunny sat in the treehouse, jump rope in hand. He threw it over the sturdiest branch he could reach, holding both ends of the rope in each of his hands, shaking as he tried to figure out how to make a strong enough knot. His hands shook as he struggled, desperate little noises coming from his mouth. He could feel cold breath on his neck as he fumbled, feeling tears start to fall from his eyes. Mari’s voice continued to echo in his head, beckoning him to keep moving forward.

Did he really want to do this? He slowed his movements as he thought about it for a moment, trying to resist the feeling to press forward. However, his fingers continued to move on their own, and he watched in horror as multiple knots in the rope made it tight. He looped it around his neck and looked forward, looking into Mari’s window. He could almost see her ghostly image in front of her piano, swaying as she played a song all too familiar to him.

Their duet.

He couldn’t stop crying as he edged himself closer to the doorway, his toes starting to hang off of the surface. He looked at his casted hand, feeling disdain course through his body all over again. He yelled as he shook the arm, failing to get the feeling of it physically stuck to his skin away from him. As he swung his arm, Kel poked his head out of the back door, looking curiously. Before he could say anything though, Sunny fell from where he was, the branch above him breaking as he fell ungracefully to the ground, a disgusting crunch filling the air as Sunny was covered by the branch. Kel jumped over the fence without hesitation, dashing over to him and pulling the branch off of Sunny as best he could. His breathing was shallow, his leg bent in an unnatural fashion. Kel felt himself start to shake and cry as he yelled out to Hero and Sunny’s mother, forgetting she wasn’t home. 

Hero ran down the street, hearing distant yelling from his brother. His heart fell through him as he continued to dash forward, realizing Mari’s words carried more weight to them before running out to the backyard. His breath got caught in his throat, seeing the situation and feeling himself begin to panic. He instructed Kel to pick him up and make sure he was still breathing, to which Kel obliged. It made him incredibly unsettled with how easy it was to carry Sunny, practically skin and bones. He made a mental note to make sure he paid more attention to how much Sunny was eating when he came back. He followed Hero’s desperate footsteps as the hospital came more and more into view. Hero ran in, yelling that they had an emergency as Kel dashed through with Sunny in his arms, not even realizing the jump rope was still around his neck. Hospital staff quickly took him out of Kel’s arms, rushing him somewhere away from them. Hero and Kel exchanged looks at each other as Hero asked if he could use the phone at the front. A nurse nodded as he dialed the number to Aubrey’s home phone. She picked up, her cheery voice throwing him off.

“Hello, this is Aubrey!”

“Aubrey, I-I need you to grab Basil. Sunny-Sunny got hurt. Bad. And-and--oh jesus, I… we’re at the hospital, please, just-”

“Oh god, I-okay. I’ll go grab him.” The phone line went dead, and Hero hung up to call Sunny’s mom, stumbling over his words that Sunny was in the hospital. He walked over to Kel and slumped over, shaking as he tried to get a hold of himself. Kel watched with worry, patting his brother’s back as he failed to hold himself together.

\------

Aubrey banged on Basil’s front door, yelling for Basil desperately. He opened the door, still swaddled in a blanket, confusing her.

“How-how long have you been asleep?” Aubrey asked quickly.

“I… I don’t know, but I think I needed it. Why, is there something you need?” He responded sleepily, rubbing his eyes with a small smile. Aubrey wordlessly took his hand, looking around before sharply inhaling.

“Sunny’s in the hospital.”

That seemed to wake Basil up quickly, his eyes shooting wide open and his grip getting tighter as he struggled to keep calm. He shook his head slowly at first before quickening his pace, taking a step back. Aubrey didn’t let go as she pulled him out of the house. He dropped the blanket as they ran out the door, leaving it open. It wasn’t until they were running that a horrible realization dawned on the boy as he tried to keep with Aubrey’s pace; it was supposed to be his turn to check on Sunny that day. As they got to the hospital, Hero quickly got up and jogged over with Kel behind him. Basil let go of Aubrey’s hand, dropping to the ground as he pulled at his hair.

“I should’ve been-I should’ve been there, I-it was my turn,and I-I-I should’ve-I should’ve been here, I-” he stuttered out, his breathing becoming labored as he tried to get new air in his lungs and calm down, failing miserably. Hero dropped to the ground, looking into Basil’s uncertain and wild eyes. He moved his hand slowly towards Basil so he would know he was going to grab one of the boy’s hands. As he took it, he moved it to his chest, maintaining eye contact.

“I need you to breathe with me. We’re going to count, just breathe with me,” Hero said soothingly, taking in a deep breath and counting rhythmically, Basil eventually starting to match his pace. As he watched Basil regain some semblance of composure, he could tell how ragged he’d let himself get.

“You… you really haven’t been sleeping at all, have you.” 

Basil weakly nodded, hiccuping and holding onto Hero. The others surrounded him slowly, making sure all he could see was them. Aubrey started whispering to him about sweet things to get his mind off the topic while Kel took Basil’s free hand in his and gently swung it around, giving him a grounding sensation. The group stayed like that for a while, holding each other and trying to stay calm. When a nurse came to get them, they all held hands in a chain as they followed her down the hallway and up a flight of stairs to a new room. She opened the door to reveal Sunny in a hospital gown, starting to wake up with his broken leg elevated. Everyone rushed to his side, feeling guilt as he started to finally cry in front of the others fully, putting his hands up to his face to wipe away tears that didn’t seem to dissipate. 

Basil watched intently, moving closer to Sunny and whimpering when his sad eyes met the other boys. He began to weep as well, apologizing multiple times through his sobs while the others watched the two cry. One the room had fallen into a long silence, Sunny finally broke it, still crying and shutting his eyes.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”


	7. 7

Chapter 7

The group stood quietly as Sunny continued to whimper out his repeated apology, hiccuping occasionally as he wiped away his tears. Basil felt the urge to tell him it wasn’t his fault, that he should have been there to see something was happening, but his throat tightened when he tried to speak. He looked away as the others exchanged worried glances around him.

“What are you apologizing for? You just had… a weird fall, right? That’s what was explained to me,” Aubrey asked, looking at Hero with confusion. He bit his lip and mouthed the word ‘later’ to her, Aubrey nodding at the gesture. Hero turned his gaze back at Sunny, smiling.

“Well, you’re okay now, aren’t you? That’s what’s import-” Hero stopped himself short as the door opened quietly, Sunny’s mother finally making it and panting as she looked at the group around him. They parted for Charlotte as she walked through and dropped to the floor next to Sunny, bawling her eyes out as she held one of his small hands in her own.

“You-you have to be more careful! Sunny, I… with everything going on, it’s… it’s the least you could do for me,” she cried out next to him. He continued to sniffle, although stifling his apologies as his mother cried, instead opting to squeeze one of her fingers. “I… this is so much for me, I just-I just wish I had someone else there to help me at this point.” She sniffled and continued to hold his hand, using her other free hand to flatten the mess her hair had become in her panic to get to the hospital.

“Well, if you need someone, Kel and I are both right next door, I’m sure Mom would understand, Hero said. Sunny’s mom turned to him, her lip quivering as she quickly hugged him, attempting to not stain his shirt with her tears.

“Hey, I wanna stay with Sunny too! We had fun when we were in Mari’s room, right?” Aubrey asked, smiling warmly at Sunny.

“That may be the case but… shouldn’t we ask him who he wants to be there? A lot has happened, and um… we shouldn’t push ourselves onto him all at the-at the same time,” Basil said quietly, getting everyone’s attention. They all circled around Sunny’s bed, Charlotte watching the act and sniffling, calming herself down before smiling through the remaining tears.

“Is there someone you want to be with you?” Hero asked patiently.

“Ma...ri…” Sunny said quietly as he sniffled, his crying subsiding. The group looked downtrodden until Hero chuckled a little bit and ruffled Sunny’s hair a little bit before leaning down.

“You should tell her that for yourself, then.” The moment he said that, all eyes shot to him, widening at the words.

“Does that mean…?” Aubrey asked tentatively. Hero grinned, nodding vigorously.

“Yeah. Mari woke up a little while ago, before we had to take Sunny here.” Everyone immediately started barraging Hero with questions, making him look slightly uncomfortable without time to answer anything. Sunny’s mother looked at all the kids before laughing a little and turning back to Sunny.

“I’ll be right back, I… I have to see Mari for myself,” Charlotte said quietly as she excused herself from the room. Hero instinctively followed in tow, giving a wave to Sunny as he walked out. Aubrey, Kel, and Basil all still stood around Sunny’s bed, debating on what to do.

“I wanna go see Mari, but I don’t wanna leave Sunny alone…” Aubrey said, looking at the small boy who was still trying to process his sister was awake. Kel looked out the door to see Hero’s back getting further away before he looked back at his friends.

“Is it okay if we go for a bit? We won’t be long, I just don’t want to leave Hero alone; I have to ask him some stuff, anyways,” Kel asked. Basil looked reluctantly at the two of them, reaching out and grabbing one of Sunny’s hands lightly. He smiled sheepishly as the two looked at him curiously.

“You guys can go on ahead. I can see Mari after everyone else, but I… I don’t want to leave just yet.” Basil watched Aubrey instinctively take Kel’s hand as she nodded, opening the door.

“Then you’re in charge here! We won’t be too far away if you need us.” the door closed, leaving Basil and Sunny alone together. Sunny finally looked at Basil with curious eyes, making Basil shift his weight awkwardly under his gaze. He’d found looking at Sunny was getting increasingly harder, his features feeling softer in a manner of speaking.

“So, I-I… I’m really glad I can. uh-I can see you!” Basil smiled as he squeezed the smaller boy’s hand, feeling his heart skip a beat as it hesitantly squeezed back, Sunny’s eyes leaving Basil to look away, a guilty expression taking its place. “I mean- this-this isn’t how I wanted to, um-to see you again. But, I-” He paused as he tried to find the words to say.

“... You haven’t slept.” Sunny quietly observed. Basil laughed nervously at his words.

“Ah, yeah, I-I guess I haven’t. It’s just been… stressful? If that makes sense, to you, I-I-”

“... I didn’t mean it.” Sunny looked back to Basil with sorrow in his eyes as he let go of Basil’s hand, shrinking away from its warmth. Basil looked at him in confusion before the words echoed back in his mind.

‘Just… go.’

He physically winced as the words bounced around in his head, making Sunny sit up a little more to grab onto Basil to keep him in the room. As Basil’s breath started to quicken, Sunny’s worried eyes made him start to calm down. Sunny had always been good at getting the other boy to calm down, letting him talk about everything upsetting him. The Sunny in front of him may look far more worn down than the other times he’d seen him, but still wore the same patient expression as he fumbled through his feelings and words. Basil was taken out of his thoughts as Sunny’s hand gently tightened around him, making him look at the smaller boy.

“I-If you don’t mind, I… is it okay if I… ask you something?” Sunny nodded, bracing himself. There were quite a few things that Basil wanted to ask, taking a deep breath before letting himself untense.

“You… there was this drawing you gave Hero, we-we think we know it’s Mari, but um.” Sunny closed his eyes as Basil explained, a sick feeling clawing at him. “The hands… is it… is it a push, or pull…?”

Sunny put his hands out in a similar fashion to the picture, feeling Mari’s fabric on his palms all over again. His eyes unfocused as he could see her silhouette falling away from him all over again, shaking as he tried to slowly replicate the motion of pushing. Basil watched the action a few times before lifting his own hands to replicate it, watching as Sunny’s movements got more frantic, his fingers curling in on themselves and his breathing becoming labored. Basil looked at his own hands before the realization finally dawned him.

_Oh._

Sunny’s hands stopped in the position, his fingers trying to hold onto something that didn’t exist. Basil took his hands and laced them with his own, Sunny’s unfocused eyes flying to the blur the blonde had become in his confusion. He thought he could hear Basil’s voice telling him things were going to be okay, that everything would sort it out, but it sounded almost as though he were speaking to him underwater, the muffled noises only occasionally reaching his ears. His world came to focus as Basil’s face drew closer to his, his bright blue eyes inches away from him. As he focused a little more, his hands flew around Basil, holding him close to him.

Basil seemed surprised by the spontaneous contact, but wasted no time reciprocating the movement, holding Sunny close. He could feel his heart beating quickly under the hospital gown as the other boy calmed himself some, finding comfort in the way Basil still smelled like his flowers. As he slowly pulled away from the embrace, Sunny could see Basil’s gentle smile as he laid back down. He closed his eyes as he sighed, taking in a deep breath.

Maybe it was something about the way Basil never relented, even when the situation seemed grim, or maybe it was the way he held onto that same smile after months. The hospital lighting may have made the room seem cooler than before, but it didn’t hide the tint that had spread across Basil’s face. Sunny could hear all the different times Basil had been on the other side of his door, calling his name and telling him about his day. The more he thought about it, the more he could remember how his friend’s voice shook a little more as he said Sunny’s name in a gentler tone.

 _Since when had Basil been so… so…_ He thought to himself, the blanks not filling themselves in as he tried to figure it out. Eventually, he gave up, letting himself finally enjoy the way Basil’s voice drifted through his ears, light and careful as always.

\------

Hero stood outside of Mari’s room with Charlotte, hand idling on the doorknob. He couldn’t bring himself to turn it, heavily wondering if the images of Mari’s body shaking back to life were just some sort of cruel joke his heart had played on him. It was irrational to think that after her words carried him to save Sunny with Kel, but it just kept nagging him. A hand found its way to his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts to see Sunny’s mother gently smiling at him. He tried to return the gesture as best he could before he finally opened the door. The white light of the room poured out into the hallway as it had countless times before. His eyes fell to Mari, whose bed had been slightly adjusted so she could sit up slightly. She stared at some of the things people had brought her over the months, currently holding one of the many plushies that had found their way to her side. She hummed something familiar as she let herself enjoy the texture. Mari turned at the sound of the door opening, smiling a little as Hero walked in quickly with her mom in tow.

“I was wondering when you would come back, Hero!” She said cheerfully, despite how tired she looked still. Charlotte whimpered as she put a hand on her daughter’s cheek. Mari’s hand weakly moved to cup it, letting her head tilt into the warmth. Hero’s chest tightened at the sight, watching as Mari’s eyelashes fluttered.

“How can you be so calm after being gone from us for six whole months?” Her mother breathlessly asked, making Mari tilt her head. Before she could ask, Kel’s head poked out from behind Hero, Aubrey following the movement after a moment. She bounced up to Mari’s bedside, grabbing Mr. Plantegg and placing it next to her. Mari smiled as she settled her arm around it, looking at the younger kids.

“I didn’t expect to see you two here. How are you?” Mari asked.

“Kel grabbed onto my hand and gave me cooties, but it was worth it to see you!” Aubrey cheerfully responded, sticking her tongue out at Kel. He frowned at the accusation, shaking his head.

“Actually, I’m pretty sure you held my hand, Aubrey; I should be the one complaining about cooties, not you!” He whined. Mari laughed a little as the two of them bickered over her. Some things never seemed to change, especially with the two of them. She looked at Hero’s gently worried face, trying to usher Kel and Aubrey to calm down. She could feel herself warm up under his gaze. His quiet consideration was never lost on her, even if he didn’t realize what he was doing.

“Sorry, you know how they are. It’s been an… eventful day, so I think they’re a little more hyper than normal,” Hero chuckled as he got a little closer, still giving Mari some space. She tilted her head once more, her eyebrows furrowing.

“Eventful how, exactly? The nurses were whispering to each other when they came in earlier, so I knew something was up, but no one’s told me yet.”Hero’s face dropped as she finished her question, everyone else in the room falling silent. He cleared his throat as he gulped, looking away.

“Well, Sunny… he, uh… fell out of the treehouse. It was pretty bad, considering he broke his leg that bad, and he also-” Hero stopped, watching as Mari tried to fight her way to sit up straight, yelping out in pain as she did. He quickly put his hands on her, asking someone behind him to grab a nurse.

“Hey, hey, you can’t just- just get up like that. You shouldn’t be trying to stand or anything on your own, your body is still weak!” Hero said. She put her hands on his arms, futilely trying to remove them from her. Her desperate whimpers continued on even as she stopped fighting it, her head hitting the pillow as she let out a frustrated sigh.

“Is there any way he can come here? I just- I need to see he’s okay.” She said, looking up at Hero.

“I promise he’s okay, I think Basil stuck back with him to make sure he isn’t alone. He… he hasn’t been talking to anyone recently, your mom letting him be homeschooled instead of keeping him enrolled after some kids started saying he tried to kill you.” He sighed, thinking about some of the things Kel had said his classmates were telling him about poor Sunny. “I… I don’t think he’s been eating either. The couple times I was able to get into his room, it was such a mess of barely touched food, dishes everywhere. And these-these drawings.” He looked at her face as it got more and more confused with every word he was saying. He let a hand run through his hair as he sighed, closing his eyes as he processed the information coming out of his own mouth.

“That… that’s a lot.” She looked at the wall in front of her, trying to figure out where to even begin. “I… I’ve been having these dreams, and with every one of them, he’s died in some brand new, horrific way. The last one I remember was… something about the treehouse...” She rubbed her face with her hands as she thought of all the different deaths flashing through her mind, getting hazier now that she was fully waking up. Hero’s eyes widened, looking down at Mari’s stressed face.

“Do you remember anything else from them?” He asked quietly.

“... I remember him saying we needed to… switch? Switch… something…” Mari closed her eyes as she thought to herself, the words starting to mix in with other things she heard while she was comatose. No matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t remember his words, but could see his image merging with a hazy scenery. She groaned, and Hero patted her gently.

“Well… I’ll just take you being awake. I-I shouldn’t be asking you all these questions, I’m sorry,” Hero apologized. Mari shook her head as she looked into his soft eyes.

“That’s no good, Hero. You know I want to help,” Mari said, a small smile playing on her lips. The sight was enough to make his heart flutter, a small laugh escaping his mouth. Kel and Aubrey watched from behind, quietly making jokes at the other’s expense.

“Is it just me, or should we leave them alone?” Aubrey asked.

“Yeah, way ahead of you.” Kel grabbed her hand and led her out, her cheeks flushing at the contact. As the door closed, she looked at him and stomped a little bit, squeezing his hand.

“You keep doing that! Why?!” She whisper-yelled. Kel raised an eyebrow at her, standing still and turning around.

“What are you talking about, dude?” He asked. Aubrey lifted their still intertwined hands and looked at Kel as her face turned more and more red. He looked at their hands, tilting his head dramatically like a curious puppy. “Is there something on our hands? I don’t get it.”

“No! I-the fact that our hands are like this isn’t normal, Kel!” Aubrey said, trying to take her hand away from his. A playful grin spread across his features as he held on and took her other hand in his free hand, swinging their arms around. She squeaked as they spun around, the only thing she could properly focus on was the carefree boy in front of her, watching Aubrey’s face with a playful energy. Eventually, Kel closed the space between them, letting go of her hands and wrapping around her instead, laughing at the flustered noise that came out of her. She groaned as she let herself get comfortable in his arms, burying her face in his chest a little.

“You’re such an idiot, Kel,” she grumbled.

“You think so? That’s not a very nice thing for you to say,” he said in a sing-song tone.

“You’re so dumb with that stupid smile, the way you always smell like that stupid drink,” Aubrey started, pushing her face further into the fabric to muffle herself, “... the dumb way you can make things seem easy.”

“What was that last one? I didn’t hear that…” Kel said, moving away from her, still holding an arm out so she didn’t lose her balance while she stood back up fully. She looked annoyed but didn’t let go of his hand, instead squeezing it a little tighter and averting her gaze as the door to Mari’s room opened, Hero laughing a little at their antics.

“Mari’s mom kicked me out saying she needed to talk to Mari about some important stuff, but…” He looked back at the door, a smile instantly finding its way to him, “she really is awake.”

“Uhhh… yeah. Didn’t you know that before everyone else or whatever?” Kel asked.

“Well, yeah but… I don’t know how to explain it. I didn’t spend a lot of time with her the moment she woke up. She said I needed to find Sunny, and I just… I just got a nurse, explained I needed to go, and ran.”

“She told you to look for him? Why would she say that?” Aubrey asked quietly, concerned at the possible implications.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Hero admitted. “But I had a feeling I should listen to her.”

“That’s great and all, but I kinda wanna get back to Sunny,” Kel said, still holding onto Aubrey’s hand, with no argument. Hero eyed the motion and suppressed a comment before going back up to Sunny’s room. He knocked on the door gently, hearing light chatter from Basil stop as the door opened. The two boys were incredibly close to each other, Basil’s hand lingering on Sunny as he jumped a little and sheepishly waved.

“O-oh, you guys are back! How’s Mari doing?” Basil asked. Sunny’s eyes stayed on Basil as he talked, almost entranced by his movements. Hero remembered his conversation with Basil and laughed under his breath as the other two filed in, still not letting go of each other. As the kids all were in the same room, Hero piped back up.

“Mari won’t be able to leave the hospital for awhile, but you still have us, and we can visit her anytime. Do you have any idea who you want to stay with you for now?” Basil stood next to Hero quickly, looking back at Sunny with a soft smile. Sunny looked between the four of them, his eyes gently falling to each person. His hand rose up as he gently began to point at Basil. Before anyone could say anything, the finger drifted to Hero, then Kel, then Aubrey, and back to Basil. He repeated the motion, covering his face as he did so. The others stood in confusion, watching his finger land on all of them multiple times until it dawned on them.

He wanted all of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! This isn't a note for anything super serious, I just wanted to apologize that this chapter is a little shorter. I plan to write something for Basil's birthday sometime later, so I hope that makes up for it. Thank you so much for taking the time to read what I have so far, and I can't wait to share more with all of you!


	8. 8

“So you’re saying I won’t be able to walk.”

“No, it’s just… it won’t be easy, and recovery is going to be slow, and I know that’s a lot for you to be taking in this fast after waking up-”

“Mom, I’m not a little kid, you of all people should know that. You don’t have to dance around it, really,” Mari laughed a little, her positivity masking the bitterness of the statement. Her mom sighed a little, touching her daughter’s face gently.

“That may be true, but it won’t stop me from wishing things were easier,” she responded, looking stressfully down at her phone as it went off. Mari looked between the phone and her mother before smiling.

“If it’s important, I don’t mind, you know.” She shifted her gaze, not daring to finish her thought out loud.  _ Not like I’m going anywhere anyways. _

“I… I’ll be right back, honey.” Her mother walked to the door, closing it gently. Mari stared at the walls of the room before the pile of things people had left for her in her sleep. Among all of the goodies, there were lots of Aubrey’s plushies, a couple Spaceboy comics Kel had definitely accidentally left, assorted plants with little sticks in them to signify what they were, and… the photo album. She squirmed over as best she could to grab it, making small frustrated noises as her fingers grazed the spine of it. She moved it closer to her using her fingernails, successfully bringing it close enough to fully grip it. Mari was surprised by how hard it was to hold, but continued to bring it closer.

She opened up the book, looking at some of the pictures from before. She laughed at all of the memories, letting her fingers trace over the polaroids of Hero’s gentle face. She could hear the way they laughed as they danced around on the beach, getting closer to each other. Mari wished she could feel the sand beneath her toes like that again, but knew that it was something too far off to really be thinking about.

She turned to the last pages that had been filled, noticing an absence of Sunny in them. She frowned as she scoured the captions for any reason as to why beyond what she had been told, finding one with his name finally on it.

_ ‘We’re working really hard to keep Sunny in high spirits, but first we have a mystery to solve! Kel won’t put down the magnifying glass.’  _

Mari looked at the picture, seeing Kel with a magnifying glass close to multiple pieces of paper, Aubrey leaning over his shoulder with a curious face. Hero was in the center of the picture, closing a little folder while Hector was just barely out of frame, his ears sticking out from behind the loveseat in the room. Another one that stuck out to her was one of a door with a couple bottles of Orange Joe in front of it, Kel leaning on the door and laughing. 

_ ‘Sunny won’t come out of his room still, but Kel couldn’t resist setting up camp! He’s talking about how he almost accidentally ate someone’s science project in their homeroom today. Oh, Kel…’ _

She bit her lip as she examined the picture a bit further, noticing a piece of paper sticking out from underneath the doorway. She could see some indistinct scribbles on it, but nothing else of note. She put down the photo album on her chest and sighed, looking over to the other assorted things people had left her. She chuckled a little bit as she saw a half full bottle of Orange Joe a little further out of the way. As she continued enjoying all of the objects, one stood out to her that was hanging partially off of the stand. She wiggled to grab it, cheering quietly to herself when she had it secured. A string of sorts fell from her fingers, one of the ends obviously snapped. She held it up to the light curiously, trying to figure out what it was from.

_ Isn’t this from Sunny’s- _

She sharply inhaled as her head began to hurt, her grip on the string tightening. She groaned, something in her head trying to surface, but not quite making it there. Images of Sunny’s face contorted in fear were the only thing she could catch glimpses of, making her more frustrated. She sighed as she brought the string close to her hand. She figured she would just have to ask Sunny when he eventually was able to come in. The sound of the door clicking got her attention, her mother shuffling back in. She smiled at her mom as she held the string out of view.

“Now, where were we?”

\------

Sunny continued to point between the four in front of him, their eyes watching the movement intensely. 

“You want… all of us?” Hero asked. Sunny nodded, obscuring his face some in the process.

“I mean, we could all have a sleepover, couldn’t we? I know I stayed the night the other day, but I’m sure Mom and Dad wouldn’t mind,” Aubrey said, leaning her head to still see Sunny’s face, smiling at his pink cheeks. Kel put on a fake serious face as he nodded along contemplatively before grinning ear to ear.

“Dude. That would be… That would be awesome!” He cheered, leaning onto Aubrey in the process, almost getting shoved off.

“I’ll have to go water my plants before I come over, but-uh-I wouldn’t be opposed! It could be fun,” Basil said, smiling to himself a little at the idea.

“If that’s the case, I’ll go ask your mom. I’m sure she won’t mind, but it’s only polite,” Hero said. He walked out of the room, looking over his shoulder for a moment to hear excited chatter pick up around Sunny’s bed. His eyes were drawn to the way even his brother’s face had softened a bit looking at the younger boy, and a thought crossed his mind as he left.

Surely, the others didn’t like Sunny too, did they?

\------

A cast and a pair of crutches later, Sunny was able to move around again, albeit not super comfortably. He wobbled on the crutches, not used to them at all. Kel stood next to him, making sure he didn’t tumble to the ground as they walked up the driveway. Aubrey and Hero chatted behind the two boys about Aubrey finally getting her hair dyed, the girl clapping her hands together out of excitement. Opening the door, Kel led Sunny inside.

“...When did you have a key?” Sunny quietly asked, not really expecting an answer in return.

“Oh, we’ve all been able to get in for months! Just in case you decided you wanted us around and to help out around the house with your mom.” Kel grinned as Sunny looked behind to make sure the others were following closely. He forgot what it was like to be surrounded by his friends after being in his room for so long. He turned back to face the stairs, dreading the process of trying to climb them with his new impairment. Kel watched Sunny’s face contort, realizing the problem before laughing.

“Dude, I’ll just carry you up! It’s no big deal,” Kel said quickly. Sunny nodded, taking care to not make eye contact with the energetic boy next to him.

“Are you sure you can do that? I know Sunny’s small, but up the stairs like that seems a bit out of your league,” Aubrey asked, putting a hand on Kel’s shoulder. 

“What? This is nothing! I carried him to the hospital, a set of stairs is nothing more than a light workout,” Kel answered back, pride seeping into his words. Hero awkwardly laughed as he saw Sunny tense at the mention of the hospital, patting Kel’s head a little rough to break his train of thought. 

“I know you must be tired, so why not stay down here for now? I’m gonna go up and use the bathroom,” He sent a look to Kel, who immediately turned to Sunny and agreed, reasoning that they were going to miss the next episode of Chowder if they didn’t turn on the TV. When he heard the three go off, he climbed up the stairs and opened Sunny’s room, repining at the scene.

The last time he had been in there, he had taken care of most of the dishes, but more had already stacked up, leaning precariously in different directions. Scattered papers had found their way to the ground making it hard to see, save for the path to the bed. The bedsheets had been discarded onto the floor, the fitted sheet beneath coming off the bed and incredibly rumpled from assumed nights of restlessness. Hero gulped, searching around the room for anything dangerous. He didn’t get to ask Sunny what had happened, and he had bluffed about how the accident had happened, saying they managed to get him out and convinced him to go up the ladder to the treehouse, equating everything else to classic kid antics. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure how he was able to convince the adults that it wasn’t something far worse, not even sure if he made the right choice.

He moved the mattress of Sunny’s bed slightly, a small key making itself present. He grabbed it, having problems at first due to some clear tape that had been holding it in place. He gave it a close look, trying to figure out what it was from.

“I’m-uh-I’m pretty sure it’s from the toybox,” Basil’s timid voice said, making Hero jump out of his skin, relaxing when he met the smaller boy’s eyes.

“O-oh, is that so?” Hero said, gripping the key a bit tighter. Basil nodded, backing up a bit with a little smile.

“If you want to look in it, I can come with you. They’re all really invested in Chowder, so I’m sure they wouldn’t notice,” Basil offered, looking out of the doorway to the group, chuckling a bit at how Kel dramatically pointed to everything on the screen, Aubrey putting his arm down using both of her hands. He looked at the way Sunny ‘s gaze flickered between the two of them as his eyes fluttered shut. He could almost hear Sunny relax in the movement, not paying mind to how his own shoulders relaxed at the sight. Hero’s quiet laugh behind him made him shoot back around, bright red in his face.

“You know, the extra set of eyes wouldn’t be a bad idea. I appreciate it,” He smiled warmly as he ruffled Basil’s hair. He made his way back out into the hallway and walking down quietly, trying not to make much noise that would make Sunny’s eyes open and focus on the two boys.

Basil flashed the others a thumbs up, Aubrey waving and Kel not noticing in return before going into the closet. The room had always been poorly lit even with the light on, and the two could immediately see that the closet had been neglected in the house since Mari had been comatose, evident in the layers of dust that had begun to build up. Basil’s eyes wandered around the room, Hero instead gunning for the wooden chest in the back. He hummed in curiosity as he put the key into the lock, twisting it a couple times and the chest opening with little resistance. Hero shuffled through the contents to find broken pieces of wood, splintered in jagged patterns. It didn’t take long for a soft sound of hurt to leave his lips, the weight and feeling of the wood being all too familiar. Curious, Basil took a glance at what Hero was looking at only to feel a chill run down his spine.

“That-that isn’t-” Basil started, his voice shaking in disbelief. 

“It is. It’s Sunny’s violin,” Hero answered back, cradling one piece of the fingerboard in his hands. He sifted through the other pieces in the box, sure enough finding strings and other various parts. Basil began to cry, doing his best to keep it quiet enough for it to not be noticeable.

“W-what do you--” Basil started, his breath getting caught in his throat, “what does-what does it mean?” 

“I don’t… I don’t know, but it can’t be anything good,” Hero answered, taking one of the pegs and pocketing it along with the strings. The two of them sat in contemplative silence before Basil looked away, fidgeting as his eyes widened. 

“Did you figure something out?” Hero asked. Basil’s head quickly turned back to Hero’s gaze as he laughed nervously.

“O-oh, nothing really! I just-uh. The picture with the-the scribbles, is all. Could that… could that have been…?” Basil shook his head, skittishly laughing the thought away, turning his back to Hero. “I, uh, have to use the bathroom. I’ll-I’ll catch up with you later!” Basil quickly excused himself from the closet and left Hero alone, staring down at the key he used to open the toy box.

Why would he hide his violin like that? Hero held onto the thought as he left the closet, hearing Basil’s hurried scampering up the stairs and the sound of the bathroom door closing. He looked back at the kids on the couch, taking note of the way Kel was being a lot more gentle with how he was swinging Sunny’s hand. Hero wondered when Kel had started taking into account Sunny’s fragility, and when he had started looking at the smaller boy with the same softness Basil had exhibited before. Aubrey leaned on Sunny as the TV continued making noise. Hero was about to turn the corner when Kel started to speak.

“It’s been a long time since we were able to do anything like this,” he said, much calmer than normal. Aubrey hummed a note of agreement, turning her gaze towards him without moving her head.

“Well, a lot has been going on, especially with both Sunny and Mari being… you know.” She frowned a bit at the thought and closed her eyes. “I miss going out and having picnics with everyone.” Kel chuckled a little as he looked at her, turning his entire body away from the tv and sitting criss-cross on the couch.

“Hey, it can’t be too long before we get to do stuff like that! Mari’s awake now, and Sunny’s right here. We just gotta be patient; then we can get back to all the fun stuff!” He put a hand on Aubrey’s shoulder and patted it. She looked down at it as her face reddened at the contact before nodding and looking away, gently removing it and holding it in her hand.

“I hope so…” she looked a little lost in thought before nodding to herself and smiling. “You’re right though, we got this far by being patient. And hey, maybe I can dye Mari’s hair for her while she recovers! She did want to dye it purple, after all.”

“Purple hair would look nice on her,” Hero said, leaning on the doorway to the living room. Sunny stirred at the sound of his voice, his eyes lazily opening.

“Wouldn’t it?” Aubrey said, nodding vigorously and moving herself away from Sunny in the excitement. He let out a small noise of distaste, missing the comfort of her being close to him. He put his hand out to get her attention, going to gently tug on her sleeve when something stopped him, a familiar feeling already beginning to linger on his hands. He shook his head a little, pulling his hand away. Kel noticed the little movement, not missing a beat to grab Sunny’s hand and tilt his head.

“Something up, dude?” His warm eyes watched as Sunny looked at him curiously, a light pink tint to his face as he did. He shook his head and looked away, still not taking his hand away from Kel’s. It felt… rough. The feeling of fabric started to fade away from his hands and he squeezed Kel’s hand, closing his eyes again as he felt himself relax. Kel squeezed back, grinning a bit. Aubrey pouted a bit, grabbing Sunny’s other hand in hers, smiling triumphantly as she squeezed it. Sunny’s eyes shot open at the new contact, relaxing when he saw Aubrey’s hand holding onto him. He took a look at those around him, a small smile finding its way onto his face. He could hear Aubrey and Kel bickering like normal with him in between, but he didn’t mind it much. A content sigh left his lips as he adjusted himself between the two again, enjoying all the sounds around him.

It wasn’t long before Basil came back down the stairs, an apologetic smile on his face as he greeted the others. “Sorry I took so long!”

“No sweat dude, you didn’t miss much,” Kel answered back. Hero had left for the kitchen, the telltale signs of shuffling through cabinets not being lost on Basil. He sat on the ground in front of the table between him and the others, putting his arms flat on the cool surface and sighing.

“So, is there anything we wanna do? I can go grab the cards from the treehouse if you want me to beat you at slapjack!” Kel beamed, standing up. 

“That’s a good idea, I’m down to play- just don’t be mad when I beat you this time,” Aubrey responded, sticking her tongue out at Kel. He got up and slid the glass door open and walked out, taking care to close it behind him. He slowed his pace down, looking at all of the branches still on the ground from when Sunny fell. He felt something tug at his heart as the image of Sunny crumpled on the ground in a fragile little pile came back to his mind. He frowned as he remembered carrying poor Sunny, a little too light for comfort. 

Kel hadn’t commented on it while he was sitting next to the boy, but he felt so much bonier than before. He had talked to Hero about it while they had been waiting, finding out that he’s barely been touching his food at all. As he climbed the ladder, the thought of Sunny starving away in his room clung to him like the sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. He had always done his best to be there for everyone around him, yet with Sunny it felt different. He knew that he had done his best everyday in hopes of getting his best friend back, to see him come back out and play in the sunlight, to see that soft smile when he played the violin he treated with such care, to see his face inch closer to his-

Kel paused, confused at his own thoughts and groaned out loud, hitting his head gently against one of the other rungs of the ladder. He found his way to the top, not wasting any time going inside the treehouse. It was almost just as they had left it, jacks and other toys strewn across the wooden floor. He looked to the table to see the pile of cards, still set down in a game that would never have been finished. He walked over to the hand he remembered being Aubrey’s, smiling a bit when realized he would have won had they continued. Kel shuffled them all into the deck, putting them in his pocket and turning to leave, stopping to see a small carving in the doorframe. He looked at it closer, squinting at it. 

It looked incredibly similar to the drawings Sunny had done of Mari, this one in a different shape than before. It was more slender, the lines not all converging at the same place. Above the figure was a single line spanning upward, not connected to anything. Kel felt his skin crawl at the possibilities as to what it could be, getting a bad feeling staying in there. He didn’t leave immediately, instead searching for something sharp to carve next to it. He finally found a pocket knife sitting on the ledge next to a picture of all of them hanging out, taking it in his hands and feeling the worn handle of it. He squatted down, sticking his tongue out as he pushed into the wood.

Kel moved back from the carving, feeling a little more relaxed as he looked at his addition: a cat sitting on the head of the thing. He knew he was no artist, but smiled at his handiwork nonetheless as he left the treehouse, bounding back towards his friends.

\------

Slapjack went as well as it normally did, Kel hurting his hand slamming it down only to see the card wasn’t a Jack. Basil giggled as he watched Aubrey bonk Kel on the head, nagging him to be more careful. Sunny stayed curled up in a ball, only participating by putting his cards in the center, watching his friends fight to win when he put down a Jack. Aubrey ended up winning, giving a smug look to Kel.

Hero brought out a pizza he had put in the oven awhile ago, the toppings still having heat rise from them. Everyone gathered around him, save for Sunny who kept staring at the game they had been playing. Hero set down the pizza and walked over to Sunny, patting his head to get his attention.

“Do you want to get some fresh air? It’s pretty nice outside,” Hero offered. Sunny paused before nodding, getting up. While the others were busy grabbing slices, the two of them stepped outside, the sky painted an orange color. Hero leaned against the wall, sighing to himself. The way Sunny’s eyes followed the clouds reminded him of the same dreamy look Mari had when she would get distracted thinking about something else. 

“... It’s nice out,” Sunny mumbled, staring up into the sky. 

“So it is,” Hero replied. He took a sharp inhale as he closed his eyes, knowing whatever response he would get wouldn’t be pleasant. He pressed on, regardless of the sinking feeling in his stomach.

“... When were you going to tell us your violin broke?” Hero asked. The air seemed to fall still with the weight of his question hanging above them, Sunny’s breathing becoming more faint at the mention of the instrument. He turned to Hero, his stoic expression broken with shock, backing away slightly. Hero opened his eyes, seeing an alien expression on Sunny’s face as he shook his head slowly, not breaking eye contact. Hero got off the wall, moving slowly towards him.

“Hey, I’m not- Sunny, please, I just want to know-” Hero pleaded, leaning over to be at eye level with the smaller boy. Sunny continued to back up, tripping on himself and scooting away from Hero and desperately trying to put room between them like a cornered animal. 

“No, I… I wasn’t… I wouldn’t…” Sunny managed to choke out quietly, putting his hands out in front of him and turning his head away. Hero stopped moving closer at the sight, sighing and squatting to the ground, keeping a gentle gaze to the smaller boy.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. We can… we can talk about it later, if you’re up for it?”

Sunny looked up at Hero, unsure in his own movements as he looked him up and down. Finding no malintent, he slowly nodded, not making eye contact with Hero. The two of them sat in silence until Hero stood up, extending his hand to Sunny.

“Now then… you ready to go back inside? I’m sure the pizza won’t be hot for much longer,” Hero chuckled at his question, flashing a smile. Sunny’s hand grazed his palm before gripping it, being pulled up from the ground. 

As they walked inside, Sunny couldn’t help but enjoy the warmth of Hero’s hand, the sensation calming him down.


	9. 9

The night went by relatively fast, a perfect storm by comparison to every other night Sunny had shared in the house for over the past half a year. The occasional caring glance thrown to him wasn’t lost on him, even when he didn’t have it in him to return the sentiment. He especially paid attention to the way Basil’s eyes lingered on him a bit longer than normal, his worry more present than Sunny could take. They locked eyes momentarily before Sunny shifted his gaze away, tensing up a little at all of the attention. Basil nervously shuffled over to him, only to be intercepted by Kel excitedly asking him questions about his plants.

In the chaos, Sunny let his gaze unfocus, noticing the outline of Something in the hallway. He didn’t get to look at it for long before Aubrey’s face peeked into his view, closer than normal. He blinked a few times, focusing on the smile that formed when he made eye contact with her.

“You know, you got a new cast and none of us have signed it yet! I think…” Aubrey walked over to a cup full of assorted pens and markers, pulling out a red sharpie, “we need to fix that!” She uncapped it before Sunny could say anything in response, getting on her knees to get a good angle at the cast. With slow writing, she made sure her bubble letters looked nice, drawing a fried egg on both sides of her name. She scooted away to admire her handiwork before she got back up, capping the marker with a prideful smile. Aubrey glanced over at Kel, who was still talking to Basil, though he seemed to quiet down as Basil stumbled over his words, explaining something. Sunny’s gaze followed her, watching as the two boys interacted. The moment Kel grabbed Basil’s hands, Sunny smiled slightly at the interaction.

“Everyone has been getting closer recently,” Aubrey said, gaining Sunny’s attention back once more. She kept watching the others, her face softening as they continued on, unaware. “Everyone’s been trying really hard these days. It’s weird, not seeing you in the hallway, or drawing cats on your homework while you sit at the cafeteria table.” She paused, looking back at him. “Do you miss doing stuff like that with us?”

“I… I do,” Sunny admitted, remembering all the times she would peek over his shoulder at his art, or the way she’d taught him how to draw bunnies along with his other menagerie of things. He missed seeing everyone’s faces daily, all trading snacks around the table and listening to Kel when he groaned about forgetting to do homework. He figured that even now, Basil would still help him in that half hour, making sure he didn’t just fail.

“Then have you considered coming back to school?” Aubrey asked, moving to sit next to him. Sunny thought about it momentarily, shaking his head at the idea. While he missed his friends, trying to catch up in his studies and deal with his peers circulating some rumor about him didn’t sound like a good idea. She frowned a little bit, leaning into him as she pouted a bit.

“Why not though? We all miss you, and you know that we could help you out! I’ll make sure you catch up personally!” She said, a serious tone in her voice as she looked up at him. She stopped questioning him when his brow furrowed slightly, seemingly upset by the question. She sighed, closing her eyes.

“I’m… I’m sorry, I just really miss you, I guess,” Aubrey mumbled. 

“... Did you?” Sunny asked quietly. The question made her sit up straight, putting her hands on his shoulder to get his full attention. She felt her stomach twist at the doubt that had pooled onto his face as he still tried to avert his gaze, opting to instead look at the carpet.

“Why would I not miss you? We all missed you, Sunny. School and hanging out hasn’t been the same without you, I mean it!” She paused, looking a little sad. “Besides, I know that you don’t like being alone. I can’t imagine why you would do that, but I know it hasn’t been fun for you.” Sunny closed his eyes as he nodded along. 

“Whatcha talkin’ about over here?” Kel’s voice asked, inches away from the both of them. Aubrey squeaked as she jumped away from his face, earning a laugh from him. Basil peeked over at the others, smiling warmly as Kel’s laugh rang throughout the house.

“Kel, don’t do that!” Aubrey whined, hiding her face in her hands. Sunny gently pat her back in response, Kel still laughing as he heard Aubrey make little disapproving noises. Basil fretted behind Kel, giving worried glances at Aubrey and Sunny on the couch. 

From upstairs, Hero listened to everyone downstairs, loudly yelling. He took a step back as he looked around Sunny’s room, nodding to himself at his work. Had he cleaned any harder, the room surely would have sparkled as he pulled the curtains away from the window, letting some natural light in despite the Sun being almost gone from view. For a moment, he’s taken aback by a large crack in the glass, making a mental note to tell Mrs. Langley about it later. He walked out of the room, calling downstairs to Kel.

“Kel, can I get a hand up here?” The sound of thunderous running up the stairs answered him, Kel almost tripping at the top of the stairs as he ran. Hero caught him in time, patting his back a bit as his younger brother attempted to pretend as if it didn’t happen.

“What’s up?” Kel asked, peeking into Sunny’s room. He didn’t wait for a response as his eyes lit up, walking into the room and picking up a bookbag that had been sitting neatly in the midst of the debris Sunny hadn’t bothered with. “Hey, my bookbag! I haven’t had this in months!” He opened it up, sitting on the ground as he looked through everything inside it. Hero awkwardly laughed as he walked in after his brother and closed the door, motioning over to a pile of blankets and pillows. Kel’s face grew serious as he got up, nodding.

“Pillow fort?” He asked, grabbing a couple pillows in his hands. Hero simply nodded in return, chuckling a bit.

“Pillow fort.”

\------

“Your friends were all so sweet when they were visiting you. They were one of my highlights of the day, especially your boyfriend. He always offered to help us out with taking care of you; he even brought me and another nurse who’d check your room frequently something to eat!”

Mari listened to the nurse talk about her friends, closing her eyes and picturing all the stories she was hearing as best she could in her head. There wasn’t much to do since she was stuck in bed, but the new voice and anecdotes helped to pass the time some.

“Hero has always been super sweet. He tries really hard to make everyone else happy around him, and he definitely succeeds.” Mari struggled to grab at a drink, her nurse passing it to her quickly. With a soft thank you, she took a sip from the straw, enjoying the cool feeling going down her throat.

“So how long have you two been dating? He seems really dedicated.” Mari thought about the question for a while, staring at the ceiling tiles as she did. 

“I… I’m not sure anymore. I don’t even think we ever officially said we were dating or anything, it just… happened,” She answered quietly, remembering the first time Hero called her ‘baby,’ how he flushed all sorts of red when she called him out on it. She hummed happily at the memory, her eyes fluttering shut. “He’s always been incredibly eager to do things for everyone, and he never really expects much else in return.”

“It must drive you up the wall, right?” The nurse asked, sitting in the chair next to Mari.

“In some ways, yes, but it also just makes me more motivated to do things for him,” Mari answered gently, “Plus, it’s hard to get upset when you see how happy he is after making someone else happy.” She chuckled a bit as she got lost in thoughts of how determined Hero had been to make her last birthday absolutely fantastic before looking back to the nurse sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I ever caught your name!”

“It’s no worries, I should’ve introduced myself. It’s Melissa,” She answered, smiling as she put out her hand, Mari taking it and shaking it. “My shift is almost over, then it should be Heather taking care of you. She’s a sweet kid, and will probably be super shocked if you say her name when she first walks in.” Melissa looked at the watch on her wrist, squinting and readjusting her glasses. She got up, grabbed a couple papers from a nearby counter, and walked to the door.

“I’ll see you in the morning!” Mari called from the bed, waving at Melissa’s back. Melissa said a quiet goodbye before closing the door, leaving Mari alone in the room again. She grabbed the string once more, examining it closely. She knew somewhere in her head that it was important, some sort of link to what happened, a piece she might have to whatever puzzle the others were trying to solve. She shut her eyes tight once again, struggling to pick out why it was so important.

For a moment, nothing came to her, the image of nothingness burning into her head. Slowly, though, she could see the same night-covered hallway she was used to seeing. A still of Sunny stood in front of her, tears in his eyes as he hiccupped. She leaned down to wipe away his tears, moving back quickly when she made contact with an abnormally cool surface. She yelled out in frustration, pushing at the image of Sunny, surprised when it stumbled backwards slightly, a small gasp from his lips. Slowly, he moved on his own, inching ever closer to her, balling his small hands into fists before relaxing them again.

“Mari, I… I wanted to do this to be with you.” His words echoed in her head for a moment, morphing into a cacophony of noise as she shook her head. Words started to overlap over one another despite him not saying anything else, an argument playing in her head that was too distorted to pick out any words from. She shut her eyes again, favoring the red hue from her eyelids rather than the hurt in Sunny’s eyes.

Mari opened her eyes after a moment of keeping them shut, being greeted by the white of the hospital room once more. She sighed as she laid in her bed, attempting to find the strength to sit back up, only to feel pain course through her entire back, yelping out as she collapsed back down. The sound of a door opening made her turn her head, seeing a smaller woman open the door quickly and rushing to Mari’s side.

“You really should be more careful; you’re not gonna heal up any faster if you keep trying to do that,” the lady nervously laughed. Mari nodded slowly, mumbling out a quiet apology. 

“Heather, right?” Mari asked. 

“Why do patients keep knowing my name without me introducing myself?” Heather asked in response, putting her hands on her face. Mari laughed, enjoying the new company. She took another look out the window, seeing how dark it had become outside and wondered if her friends were all fast asleep. She turned back to Heather, who started to go over a check of her vitals.

\------

Hero stood in darkness, no longer surrounded by the friends he had fallen asleep next to. He looked around quickly, hearing the distant sound of Mari’s laughter. As he moved in one direction, the sound circled around him in a taunting manner as it shifted and changed in tone. His movements became more erratic as he chased it down, feeling himself get winded as he did. Uninterpretable questions fell from Mari’s tongue, calling out Hero’s name in a quiet, desperate voice. He watched as she came into view, a writhing mess on the ground, back bent in an unnatural angle as she looked at him with dead eyes. He shook his head as words got caught in his throat, the urge to scream and vomit becoming ever more apparent.

“No, please, you’re not-you’re not dead, I know better, I-” He continued to shake his head, pulling at his hair and trying desperately to cling on to the pain rather than her mangled image. “Please, just-just stop-”

Her voice vanished instantly, leaving him in deafening silence. The cold nothingness of the ground was replaced with the feeling of dew-covered grass, a breeze blowing onto his face. He hesitantly opened his eyes, regretting the decision almost instantly. Sunny’s body swung in the breeze, hanging from a branch of the treehouse’s tree. Hero knew that Sunny’s attempt failed, but something about how limp his limbs were as he stayed eerily still slowly convinced him otherwise. Breathless, he moved closer to the boy, his hands reaching out slowly to untie the knot holding him there.

He wasn’t prepared for one of Sunny’s hands to shoot out at him, wrapping around his own neck with a stronger grip than he could’ve ever imagined. He choked out a sound of fear as Sunny’s eyes opened quickly, bloodshot and cold. He could hear Mari’s voice echoing around him once more, a chorus of disapproval getting into his head. A cold, lonely, strained voice fell from Sunny’s mouth as Hero stared helplessly at the boy.

_ “You could have stopped this.” _

Hero shot up in a cold sweat, knocking Kel awake in the process. His head whipped around to see everyone situated in the giant pillow fort they had managed to create. He watched as Kel lifted himself up in the process, rubbing his head where Hero had accidentally slammed into him.

“Jesus Christ, Hero, what’s up with you?” Kel asked. Hero gave Kel an apologetic look as he looked around for Sunny, not seeing him anywhere. The sound of shuffling outside the room grabbed his attention, getting up quietly. Kel stayed put, not wanting to disturb Aubrey, who had somehow migrated down to using his legs as a pillow. Hero poked his head out of the door to see Sunny struggling to use his crutches, quietly making frustrated noises as he tried to navigate his way out of the bathroom. Hero shot a thumbs up to Kel and closed the door gently, moving to Sunny’s side to help him out of the doorway. He jumped at Hero’s presence, looking down quickly. 

“Sorry, I just-I couldn’t let you just struggle like that. Crutches are hard to get used to, but I promise we’ll be here to help you out,” Hero said quickly. Sunny looked up at him for a moment before moving to the stairs, struggling to get down and hang his legs off the first step. Hero carefully helped Sunny situate himself before getting down next to him and mimicking his placement. The silence between them was starting to make Hero feel a bit restless after his dream, turning to Sunny to see if he was going to say something.

“... Mari was mad at me.” Sunny said quietly, looking down the stairs, not taking his eyes away from the base of them. Hero tilted his head, confusion washing over him.

“Mari? Mad at you?” He laughed a little, looking away from sunny as he shifted backwards, putting his weight onto his palms. “I don’t think she’d ever be mad at you. I know you didn’t really visit her in the hospital, but… she didn’t seem upset with you, if that’s what you mean.” Sunny shook his head, curling himself into more of a ball.

“About the violin.”

Hero blinked a few times, sucking in a quick breath. He wasn’t prepared for the topic, but the look on Sunny’s face made his heart soften a bit.

“That… I can see why she’d be upset about that, then.”

“I just… I wanted to be closer to her,” Sunny said, his voice lightly wavering. He grabbed at the hem of his pajamas as he sat in his own contemplative silence. Hero watched as Sunny opened his mouth slowly, trying to find his own careful words. “I don’t… I don’t think that was what she wanted to hear.” 

“I don’t understand, why did you…?” Hero trailed off, waiting for Sunny to fill in the blank. Sunny looked over his arm to Hero’s concerned face, a vulnerable look in his eyes before he turned his gaze back down.

“I wasn’t happy.”

The sound of the door opening slowly behind the two of them got Hero’s attention, seeing a groggy Aubrey propping herself up using the wall as she felt her way to the bathroom. He chuckled as she finally found her way, closing the door with a small yawn punctuating her movement. He turned back, noticing Sunny’s gaze had been following her as well. Hero sighed a little, deciding it was time to change the subject.

“They’ve all really missed you; you wouldn’t believe the amount of time they spent talking about you,” Hero said. Sunny tilted his head, his posture relaxing at the new topic.

“What about me?” He asked quietly. Hero knew he had Sunny’s full attention with the conversation topic and chuckled quietly.

“I don’t even know where to start… Kel has been drawing these comics of episodes of Camp Lazlo so that you’ll know what happened in the episodes you missed, and he even made a promise to retire his lucky rock if he could get you to smile again like before.” Hero paused as he saw Sunny hide his face a little at the words, pressing on. “Aubrey got a bunny, and she’s been waiting for you to come over and help her with a name. She won’t take suggestions from any of us, only you.”

“What color is it…?” Sunny said, making Hero pause with the sudden question.

“It’s kind of a light yellow, a lot more round than I thought bunnies were supposed to be,” Hero started moving his hands to show the size and roundness, stopping when he heard the slightest chuckle. 

“What are you two doing up?” Aubrey’s voice came from behind them, making the boys turn to look at her.

“We’ve been out here for a while, just talking is all. You’re welcome to join us though; we were just talking about your bunny.” Aubrey perked up, walking over to the two boys and putting a hand on their shoulders.

“We can talk about my bunny when you come see her, but you should come back to the pillow fort- I can’t get Kel to stop snoring, and Basil is making these little noises in his sleep now that he doesn’t have Sunny propping him up.” In the silence between the three of them, they could easily hear Kel’s snoring from the slightly ajar door. Hero got up, picking up Sunny as Aubrey grabbed his crutches and walked them into his room. As everyone got back into their comfortable positions, Sunny gently moved Basil back to where he was, smiling a bit at the sound of Aubrey covering Kel’s face with a pillow.

He lifted his head momentarily to see his friends all in his room as the fan above them made quiet noise. Eventually, he realized he was the only one still awake again. He closed his eyes once more, his breathing evening out as he drifted off.

\------

The room was white as always, Mewo presently licking one of her paws as he stood up. He held himself slightly, reveling in the light warmth that stayed on his skin. He went to open his sketchbook, stopping as the presence of a hand appeared on his shoulder.

“This is where you’ve been?”

He didn’t need to turn around, nodding at the voice. A hum of contemplation rang out through the endless room before Sunny felt himself get turned around, greeted with Basil’s smiling face.

“I think…” he paused, looking at a door that hadn’t been present beforehand, “it’s time to go. Are you ready?” Sunny looked around the room once more, seeing Mewo had paused in her grooming. He walked over to her and scratched between her ears, enjoying the feeling of her purring against his fingertips. He walked back to Basil, stopping a couple feet away from him.

“I’m ready.”

Basil smiled warmly as he took Sunny’s hand in his, opening the door. As it closed, Sunny held onto the growing feeling in his chest, a part of him wondering what it was.


End file.
